Starlight Tavern
by VoltronAndLadyBug13
Summary: This Slice-of-Life story revolves around a Sapphire and a bar she owns near the edge of Empire city. Although she's left a world of troubles behind her, humans and gems alike seem to be attracted to her as they seek comfort, wisdom, or just someone to talk to. When your a one eyed gem running a popular bar, life can never be dull, not even with future vision ;)
1. Chapter 1

Vic slammed his beer mug on the table, shaking the other drinks laid on the counter and even knocking a few over. He ignored the numerous growls and complaints from those around him and focussed on his empty cup. This was his life. It started off fine at first, it was up to the brim with beer, everything was fine when it was full. But as time went by, it lessened, he lost more drip by drip, and before he knew it, it was gone, completely empty. And once it was all gone, he always had to pay the bill, it never came free.

What was the point in asking for a refill? He could order one if he wanted, but he knew it would be the same in the end, it would just cost him more if he bought another.

"Refill."

He was stupid. He never learned from his mistakes, even when he knew how it would turn out. No matter how many times he ran out, he alway got more with some impossible hope that it would last longer. It could never change.

"History repeats itself," A voice from behind the bar said, "But there can be a few exceptions."

Vic looked up to meet the voice, and found a woman from the end of the bar with her back to him. Her short fluffy hair seemed to flow as though it were alive, it almost reminded him of a frosty white cloud against her dark navy blue jacket. As she turned around with a large cup of an icy bear in her hand, he could take a better look at her. Her skin was a white as paper, and beneath her jacket she wore a hot red T-shirt that seemed to clash her entire outlook and long comfortable jeans. Her frosty bangs came over her eyes and completely concealed them, but were short enough to reveal the calm and peaceful smile on her face. She almost looked like an old friend, happy and content with her life and even more so to see him. Yet despite her kind appearance, the stranger's words confused the drunken man. It was almost like she had responded to something he had said out loud. Had he said that out loud? How could he tell anymore, he could be announcing his thoughts right now without even realizing it. That happened every now and then whenever he got too drunk.

"Don't worry," The stranger continued as she took a crystal cup and began to pour a rich red wine, "You haven't said a thing."

Vic stared at the woman in disbelief as she swiftly went to the other side of the bar and handed a taller girl her glass. After that she quickly turned to a few empty cups and brought them to the sink behind her, both calmly yet quickly. Then without even turning around, she spoke to Vic.

"You were going to ask," She said as she rinsed out the glass cups, "There really wasn't much of a point in waiting for you to speak. I mean I could have just waited for you to ask, but it's just so much easier to tell you now."  
Vic continued to stare at the woman, though he wanted to speak out loud he found his words failing him. Was this woman some kinda mind reader, or had he just had too much to drink?

"Neither," The woman replied (again, without looking at him), "I see into the future. And before you ask me to prove it, I think I've presented enough evidence to convince you."

Okay, so he was crazy. Figured. Still, there was worse things to imagine than a beautiful bartender with a calm mind and the ability to see into the future, it was just weird. The odd thing about her (besides seeing into the future) was the fact that she looked shorter than she really was. From behind the counter, he could only see the upper part of her along with a bit of the waist. By the size of her arms and waist, she looked like she could be no older than nine, yet she was tall enough to stand above the bar, and her face looked old and wise, with a bit of a youthful flare.

" _Yeash, what did I drink to think of her?"_

"Honestly, it could have been a variety of things," She continued as she handed two glasses of champagne to a couple sitting at the far end of the bar, "But that would be assuming I wasn't real, or that-"

"Would you stop doing that?" Vic finally snapped as he slapped his hand on the table in frustration. When he saw the startled look on her face (or at least he assumed it was startled) he couldn't help but grin.

"Bet ya didn't see that one," He snickered victoriously.

"Only as a possibility," The woman chuckled in reply, "I didn't think you'd snap. Sorry for freaking you out, my customers became used to it."

"Hu, weird," Vic almost said to himself as his eyes dropped down to the full cup in front of him.

"So was I gonna tell you about the whole beer thing or what?"  
"How else would I know?" The bartender asked, "Like I said, I'm no mind reader."

Vic continued to stare down toward his drink. It was odd, really, how something could look so full at one point, so promising. If Vic didn't know any better, he'd have every right to believe that it would stay full like that forever. But no matter how many times someone could fill it up, it would always be empty. To think it would only take a few moments for the cup to be dry and fruitless. Anyone could walk up and have it filled up and drained over and over again, does it really matter how full something is it's going to be empty in the end?

"Man, that puts the whole 'half empty half full' cup to shame," The bartender chuckled as she took a few more bears on a tray and balanced it on her hands.

Vic gave a small shrug as he reached out his hand toward the cup.

"I know, I know. Nothing lasts forever, right?" She sighed as she grabbed a handful of ice cubes and dropped a couple in each drink, "But things exist so you can enjoy them while they're here."

"What's the point if they'll drain away eventually?" Vic sighed in a low voice, "And anyways, why should I take advice from some crappy bartender my mind mixed up?"

The woman paused to look at him, then placed the tray down and faced Vic for the first time.

"Listen pal, I'm a lot older than I look," She said with a bit of a smirk.

"Yeah, sure," Vic snorted before raising his glass to him mouth.

"I've been at this bar ever since it opened," the woman continued, "I've seen a lot of guys like you, believe it or not."  
"And you're saying they all turned out fine?" Vic spat after successfully drinking half of his beer.

"Not all of them," The woman sighed, "But most of them found my advice pretty insightful, and I'll only offer it to people who know how to listen. And anyways, what harm will it do? Can you think of anyway I could make it worse?"

Vic stared down at his drink and considered her words. She had a point, even if she did give bad advice, it really couldn't make his state much worse. Besides, if he could get help, might as well be from anywhere, even some weird pale bartender.

"Yo Fire, where's our drinks?" Someone barked from the back of the bar.

"Yeah come on Fire, on with it!" A voice cried from the same direction.

"Alright I'm coming," The woman shouted back as she lifted the tray of beers once more and made her way to the door.

"Fire?" Vic thought out loud as he raised his eyes to the woman as she opened the small door to the bar, "That's your name?"

"Actually, it's Sapphire," Sapphire replied with a friendly smile, "But those idiots back there lack the capability to properly pronounce it."  
"Hey that's not true," The first voice barked, "Fire just sounds better, that's all!"  
"Yeah! You should be thanking us," The second voice added, "It's better than Roy's nickname for you."

"What? But she's all cold and stuff, Fire's a horrible name for her!" Roy (a third voice) Snapped, "Ice witches a much better name for her!"  
"Roy, I swear if you call me that one more time," Sapphire called with a bright smile as she walked around the bar with the tray of beers, "I'm gonna break your glass mug on your head!"

"Again with the threats?" Roy sighed, "Come on Ice Witch, after all we've been through I thought we were past-no, _no! Put the glass down! I MEAN IT! DON'T! GUYS HELP! SHE'S CRAZY!"_

The group of people in the corner burst into laughter as Sapphire began shaking a bear mug toward a man who was practically climbing over his friends to avoid her. But Vic wasn't laughing like them or any of the spectating people in the room. Because it was now, for the first time, Vic saw the lower half of Sapphire. Her legs had to have been no shorter than her arms, which initially didn't make sense since she had been nearly as tall has him when he'd been sitting down. She couldn't have been taller than a 10 year old-at the most-her wavy jean pants looked like a 4th graders', and she wasn't even wearing shoes. But that wasn't the thing that was bothering him. What bothered him about her feet was the fact that they didn't touch the floor. She was floating over a foot of the ground! And what made things worse was that absolutely no one was bothered by it! Roy seemed much more concerned with his beer dripping on his head than the fact that she was flying over it, and all of his friends were drinking their beer and laughing it up like nothing was wrong (one of them was even reading!). When Sapphire finally came and saw the look on Vics face, she could help but snicker.

"I don't have to read the future to know what you must be thinking," She chuckled as she walked past him and floated over the bar table to her station.

"WHAT ON EARTH-" Vic started to cry.  
"I never said I was from earth," Sapphire said slyly with a smirk.

Vic's jaw hung open, wanting to scream or express his confusion in some way but finding it utterly impossible.

"HA! Look at him," The first voice from the back cackled, "Clearly it's his first time here, ain't it?"  
"Come on Morton, cut him some slack," The second voice chuckled, "Remember our first time we saw her?"

"How could I?" Morton replied with a snort, "We were so freaked out we wet our pants in front of her!"

"Not even I saw that coming," Sapphire called as she polished a mug jar with a white rag.

With that being said, the group of people once again burst into laughter as though nothing was amiss. Judging from their leather clothes and black boots, Vic could easily imagine them being some sort of motorcycle gang. The group made up of 8 men and 4 women, 7 of the men and 2 of the girls were cracking up, leaning over each other and spilling beer over themselves and the table, one of the boys was having what appeared to be an incredibly engaging conversation with one of the girls (neither one of them had barely touched their drinks), while the last girl hid her face behind a book nearly as big as herself as though her very life depended on it. They were all crazy, but at least they were happy.

"How…...where…." Vic stuttered as he turned back to Sapphire.

"What? Have you never been to a history museum?" Sapphire chuckled, "You might have noticed us if you have a sharp eye?"

"...us?"

"The crystal gems," Sapphire sighed, "I suppose I was never really an official one myself, but love the earth more than any of the clods on homeworld."

"H-Homeworld?" Vic stuttered, "Is that you're home planet?"

"It's where I'm from, sure," Sapphire replied simply, "But I don't like to consider it my home. It's not the best place for the open minded."

"What was so wrong with it?" Vic asked. He wasn't sure if it was the kind personality of the Sapphire or the other drinks he had had making his thoughts more blurry, but this alien bartender was starting to freak him out less, and he soon found himself more curious than scared.

"Well for starters they tried to hollow out the earth a few thousand years ago for their own greedy desires," Sapphire began, "Those upper cross elites talked about their plans and how it would be for the 'benefit all of gem kind' and all, but they didn't give a rats butt about any of the organic life already living here."  
"Yeesh, they sound kinda mean," Vic muttered as a drop of sweat ran down the side of his head and he picked up his beer mug once again.

"But that isn't even half of it," Sapphire sighed, "I mean how could expect leaders who don't even respect their own subjects to care about anyone from any other planet? Especially when they couldn't live longer than 100 years."

"What do you mean?" Vic asked curiously, "Were they mean to you?"  
"No, they tolerated me to some extent," The Sapphire said in a tone Vic had been unfamiliar with, "It was almost everyone else who they discriminated."

"For what?" Vic asked before placing his beer down (which now only had ¼ left).

"For self evaluation," Sapphire said as she filled another beer, "For thinking they could control their own lives, or for defining themselves in their own manner. On homeworld, everyone is made with a purpose, their considered tools. Tools don't have opinions, they can't have their feelings hurt, because they can't feel…...or at least they shouldn't. If a tool breaks, they have plenty more to replace them with. Or they could always make another one, it's no heartache if one has to be _thrown away."_

"Is...is that what they did to you?" Vic asked curiously, "Did you do something wrong, and they….'threw you away?' Is earth some sort of trash can to them?"

"Not quite, but that's a creative way to think about it," Sapphire chuckled, "The Diamonds never throw anything away, so to speak. If they wanted to get rid of me, I wouldn't be speaking to you…..well, I mean they did want to get rid of me, they just really sucked at it."

Vic found it quite odd how lightly Sapphire spoke of her seemingly terrifying home world.

"And the earth to them isn't so much a trash can," Sapphire continued as she placed a few champagne glasses on a silver platter, "They might think it _belongs_ in a trash can, but I doubt they would look so merciful on it."

"What do they have against the earth?"  
"Well the earth isn't exactly a normal planet, and neither are the gems that come out of it. But it's more than the earth itself, it's what happened here that burns them up," Sapphire replied, "Let's just put it like this: 4 Diamonds came to earth, and only 3 left."

"Oh….."

"Yeah. They were pretty p***** about it afterwards," Sapphire sighed, "Anyways, to put it simple, the Diamonds are the guys in charge, and anyone who's doesn't act exactly like they were made to are eliminated."

"Is that what happened to you?"

Sapphire nodded solemnly. "Yep. Before earth, I was all for the diamonds. I had seen everything that'd happen in my life and when, and I knew nothing could be done to change it so I sucked it up and accepted most of it, but earth caught me off guard….like, really off guard….for the first time in my life, I discovered that there could be more than one possible outcome for a given situation. Sure, some were more likely to occur than others, but they weren't the only possibility. I found out there could be multiple perspectives on things."

Vic poundered the aliens words, surprised by how the they touched him the way they did. For a while he had tried to predict the future, he was so sure of what would happen, but in truth, he had no control over the flow of time.

"You're wrong," Sapphire said as she polished a few more glasses, "You may not control others fates, but you can control your own. People can persuade and manipulate as much as they please, but you're ultimately in control of your own actions."

Sapphire then took the platter and hovered over the bar, 4 bloody marys staked on the tray as she flew.

" _Man this place is weird,"_ Vic thought to himself as he watched the girl fly off. Was everyone here really fine with the fact that an alien was running a bar? Did they not see how crazy it was at all? If he was less drunk, he probably would have been freaking out by now.

As his eyes bounced from person to person, he answered his own question. These must have all been regular customers, there was no other way for them to be able to act so calm as this went on. They lived here for so long that it had become the norm.

"So what brings you here?" Sapphire asked as she flew back to the bar, "I can tell you're not from these parts."

As the woman spoke, Vic flinched as awful memories flashed in his mind in seconds, recapping the events that had drove him away from home.

Fire.

Screams shrieking.

Sirens blaring.

Everyone's eyes glued to him like cats surrounding a rodent.

Their hatred burning toward him as though he was responsible for every heart ache they'd ever encountered.

" _It's him!"_

" _He's the one who did it!"_

" _What's wrong with you?"_

" _Monster!"_

" _Cluts!"_

" _It was him! He did it!"  
_ " _W_ _HA_ _T H_ _AV_ _E YO_ _U D_ _ON_ _E?_ _?"_

The memories of his past suddenly broke away and all reality crashed back in an instant as a piercing shattering noise broke through his thoughts. Vic nearly jumped out of his seat as he noticed the bear mug had slipped from his hands and crashed against the floor. Vic shook his head, clearing the thoughts from his head in an attempt to seem normal.

"Ah! S-Sorry," He stuttered, his face flushing as he did so, "I-I must have dozed off for a second. I, um, didn't get a whole lot of sleep the other night-Ah geez, I'm such a-h-here, let me-um-"

"Vic."

The man looked up and found Sapphire looking away from him, as though she were lost in thought. The woman's hand clutched the side of the bar as though her life depended on it.

"It's…...alright," She said, her words breathed the frosty voice of midnight, "I don't have to look into the future to know…"

Vic heavily blushed and looked away.

"I-Is it that obvious?"

"No, it's…...it's just that I can relate in a way or two…...it isn't anything to be ashamed of."

Vic clenched onto the bar tightly. As soon as he had moved into his new apartment, he had directed his main focus to go to the bar and drown out his past life. Yet here he was, sitting at a bar (at least somewhat drunk) and discussing his nightmares with a complete stranger-one from a different planet at that.

"How can you be so sure?..." Vic said, his voice carrying a certain darkness that hadn't been there before, "You don't even know….if you did, you wouldn't be talking to me right now…"

"Victor, listen," she said in a serious voice (speaking the mans full name for the first time), "Like I said, I'm a lot older than I look, maybe even more so than I'd prefer, so you can imagine I've made a lot of mistakes…..the one you could relate to happened years before you were born, but it still burns, even if it was an accident…"

"Are you saying I'm never going to get over this?" Vic asked, not able to meet the bartenders eyes, "That this will burden me for the rest of my life?"

"That can't be determined," Sapphire replied, "Not even by me. What I am telling you is that from my experience, things get better over time. It may never heal completely, but it gets easier to deal with."

"...how?" Vic asked, his eyes drifting to Sapphire hopefully, "How can I do that, how can I heal?"

"Well, the answer's pretty simple," Sapphire replied, getting her usual smirk as she did so, "You live."

Vic blinked, wondering if he had heard her wrong. "Live, wait-that's it? Seriously?"

"I'm not saying that's the only thing you can do," the woman chuckled, floating over the bar with a broom in her hand as she did so, "I'm just telling you what works for me. You can't rush something to heal, you can't expect certain things to just go away and fix themselves over night. Stuff like that takes time. Every day the pain gets a little better, you find yourself getting stronger, more able to face the world. You just have to be patient."

Victor pondered these words for a moment, and for a while he found himself lost in contemplation. He had never been the same ever since the incident, he'd never thought he'd get over himself. It was one thing being bullied in middle school, what they had said then wasn't true, it had meant nothing to them. But this was different. The things people said about them, their words pierced his skin like daggers, they were horrible, but it stung because they were _true._ Every time he had closed his eyes he saw their faces, he saw himself through their words, he was a monster…..

Yet despite this, there was something about Sapphires voice that reassured him, like she genuinely knew what she was talking about. His life wasn't over, not yet, maybe he could begin a new life here. But first, he had to make amends with the one he left behind, he couldn't really move on until that. But it was all so much…..just one moment had twisted Victors world into a nightmare, he had no idea how much time it would take for it to all be healed, if it was even possible.

"I can see you've got a lot on your mind," Sapphire dusted up the small glass shards beneath Victors feet as she spoke, "I think it'd be better to sleep on it, you don't want to digest too much in one sitting."

"Uh…...yeah, I guess," Victor stuttered with a shaky breath.

"And again, don't worry about the glass," Sapphire chuckled, "But if you don't want to break any others, you should probably leave now."

"Am…...am I being thrown out?" Victor asked nervously. It seemed as though Victor was already ruining things for his newly found friend the very day he met her.

"No, it's nothing like that," Sapphire gave Victor a reassuring smile as she floated over the bar, "It's just a friendly suggestion. If you stayed here and kept drinking, there'd be a strong chance of you singing the national anthem in the women's bathroom before puking on someone….it gets pretty ugly after that," Sapphire laughed as she imagined the scene, "And not the sort of first impression you want to make on a new town."

Victor shivered at the thought of ruining his reputation in only a matter of hours (not to mention the idea of waking up inside a jail cell).

"R-Right, I'll take your word for it," Vic chuckled nervously as he put his hand in his pocket, "I'll just pay the bill and-" Vic stopped mid sentence as his hand felt around in empty space. "Um-okay, that's a little weird…" Vic muttered, he could have sworn he put his wallet in his front pocket. After searching his right pocket for another 10 seconds before going to his left.

"No no no no," Vic muttered franticly, "Come on-you gotta be kidding me!"

"Let me guess, slipped your mind?" Sapphire asked with a smirk as she leaned against the bar.

"Ah geez! How many beers did I drink?" Vic groaned as he slapped his forehead with his hand, "Here, I could work for the money I owe you! I could mop the floors or-"

"Hey, no sweat, you've had a rough day," Sapphire chuckled as she turned around, "You can pay me back latter-by the way, your going to want this," She replied as she tossed Vic a long pointed object.

For a moment Vic almost thought she was throwing a spear at him as he caught the object mid air, but upon closer inspection, he found an umbrella clutched in his hands. Vic looked up at Sapphire in confusion.

"I checked my weather app, it's not suppose to rain till next week….."

"What, in this humidity?" Sapphire snorted, "Stranger things have happened bud. Trust me, it's gonna be raining cats and dogs, a few drops have already fallen," she said, nodding to the glass window with a few drops of water running down the side.

"Well, if you say so," Vic said casually as he rose from his set, "You sure I can take the umbrella though?..."

"I actually have a lot more than that," Sapphire replied as she gestured to under the bar, "Your not the first to come unprepared. You can go ahead and keep it, honest."

"Oh come on, I couldn't! Even if you do have a lot, it'd still feel like stealing."

"If your that bothered by it, you can just give it back to me next time."

"...next time?"

"Yeah," Sapphire replied as she took a bottle of white wine and poured it into a glass, "Next time you drop by."

"Did you look into your-um-future vision again?" Vic asked as he opened his umbrella.

"Nope, not this time," Sapphire said with a smirk, "There's some things you just know on your own…...plus, you still have to repay me for the beers you owe me," She chuckled as she handed the wine glass to someone a few steps away from Vic, "So you don't have much of a choice."

"Ha, right," Vic laughed, sensing the humor in Sapphires voice as he walked toward the door, "I guess I'll see you then. Thanks for the umbrella Sapphire."

"Anytime," Sapphire called, "And for future reference, my friends call me Fire, and not _ice witch,"_ Fire added as she flicked a straw towards Roys head. Roys friends snickered and snorted around him as he rolled his eyes and drained the last of his beer.

"Hey, if you want you could stay a minute longer and hitch a ride with one of us," The man presumably named Morton called, "Always room for one more!"

"Ah-no, no thanks," Vic said with a wave, "It's just a short walk, I'll manage."

"Alright, if you say so," He replied before turning back to his friends.

Victor then walked out the door with his opened umbrella and closed the door behind him. Before walking off, the man stopped to observe the bar that had seemed so normal and unimportant to him before he had entered. When he had first arrived, Victor had been too bitter and tired to even notice his surroundings, but to his surprise, he actually felt more clear headed as he left the bar and was now able to observe the details.

The restaurant was made up of red wood and stood out in the grey city illuminated by neon lights. It was roughly the size of a large house and almost looked like a log cabin, giving the building a warm and inviting look. Above the door was a large navy blue sign covered in small shining stars, and the sky got progressively darker as the stars rose. The white words that were placed on the sign were hand written, neat enough to read, but also sloppy enough to give off some kind of personality:

" _Starlight Tavern"_

Now that Victor thought about it, it made sense that the bar was owned and managed by an alien, the building gave off a very distinguished unearthly vibe, yet there was something oddly familiar about it at the same time. Victor didn't know why he had chosen this bar to go to that night, but he was glad he had. He couldn't believe he had been lucky enough to make friends with someone so understanding of his situation, especially when he had needed it most. The future had been so frightening and uncertain to Victor since the incident, he had no idea what his life would become in the years to come or what would happen to him, but for that moment (and for the first time in days), Victor felt that he could accept the fact that life was unpredictable, and that it would continue to surprise him and throw him off his path. But that was life, it wasn't always bad, and it wasn't the end of the world. Victor felt calm for what felt like years, and even in that cold and grey night, Vic saw his future as something bright and hopeful.

Suddenly a drop of water smacked the top of Victors umbrella across the smooth black surface. Vic watched as it clung to the edge and dropped to the pavement in front of him, marking the otherwise pale sidewalk. His eyes ran up the long buildings before him to the dark purple sky above him, promising to rain on the earth below as it clung to the humid atmosphere. The sound of thunder rumbled throughout the earth, and Victor began to navigate through the crowds of Empire city.

 _ **-Epilogue-**_

"Well, looks like that's the end of the first chapter of this series, I think it's off to a great start! This is my first Steven Universe fan fiction so it might be a bit rusty at first, but I'm going to improve my work chapter by chapter (or I'll be trying to anyways). Thank you all so much for staying after the chapter to read this (I mean if you're here and your reading this I guess I'm doing something right XD)."

"Don't speak too soon, this is only the first chapter."

"What the-Sapphire? What are you doing here in the epilogue?"

"You tell me, you're the author aren't you?"

"Yeah, an author with a memory of a goldfish!"

"Fair enough. Work was pretty slow after the gang left, so I thought I'd drop by and see the readers. Besides, I'm the main character here right?"

"Weeeeeeeeeeeel, I like to think maybe the _author_ is the main character, don't you think?"

"I think the main character would have showed up in the first cha-"

"HAHahHaAHAHA! Let's talk about this another time, _off script,_ alright?"

"Your the boss."

"Yeah I am!"

"Never said you weren't."

"...is it just me, or is your text different than mine?"

"Hm?"

"It's just-your words seem way fancier than mine!"

"I don't really see what you mean, but I guess my handwriting has a bit more….class." B-)

"How can your handwriting be better than mine?! I mean you can't even-"

"Hey hey, not spoilers!"

"Oh come on Fire, what if they want to know?"

"And what if they don't?"

"What's so wrong with one tiny spoiler?"

"Actually, that's kinda why I'm here."

"What are you up to?..."-_-

"I was thinking that I could spice things up in the end of the epilogue, if you know what I mean."

"Oooooooooooooh, I get it!"

"Yup, I was thinking that after talking about the general chapter I could use my talents to-"

"GET US SOME BEER!"

"...Nox, your underaged."

"SSSSHHHHH! They don't need to know that!"

"I wasn't talking about _those_ talents, I meant my future vision!"

"Huh?"

"I was thinking that I could use my future vision to give a small teaser for the next chapter!"

"LIKE SHULK?"

"Yes, Nox, like shulk."

"That's a brilliant idea! I'm glad I thought of it!"

"What? But I-"

"Your not the author, are ya?"

*sigh* "You gotta stop playing that card."

"Why? Who's gonna stop me? IM MAD WITH POWER!"

"Ah geez not again."

"MWAAHAHAAHHAHAHAHA!"

"Your evil side is showing-"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!"

"Your scaring away the viewers!"

"WHATS THAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER MY _**MAD POWER!"**_

"I'm so sorry-"

"AHAHAAAHAHAH!"

"-she's only like this on the weekends-"

"HIAKAHAHAHAHAhhhhAAAAA!"

"-I promise."

"Ha…ha…...ah, my sides!"

"Just start the preview you diamond" XD

"Haaaaaaaaaaaa, okay, go ahead…."

"Right, so, if you guys are still here after…..whatever that was…...then you're still here for a small teaser of the next chapter. If you don't want to spoil yourself, that's totally fine, but the teaser will always be here if you change your mind. ;) (plus, the chapters not exactly done yet, and Nox is a bit of a slow writer)"

"Hey!'

"I didn't mean it as an insult, quality takes time."

"Awwww, thanks Fire!" 3

"No prob Nox." :)

"But-wait, did you call me a _Diamond_ earlier?"

"Welp without further adieu, let's start the flash back! See you next time!"

"Wait wait you didn't answer my-"

*- _Flaaaaaaaaaaash!-*_

"So Roy, where are the others tonight?" Sapphire asked as the door swung open and another customer came in.

"Ah, you know, same old stuff," Roy replied as the customer sat near the edge of the bar, "Guss and Morton have the auto body and some meeting tomorrow, so they had to call it a night early."

"You mean earlier than 4:38 in the morning?" Sapphire chuckled as she floated to the new customer, "That's believable. What can I get you?"

"A cold beer'd be fine," The stranger grumbled while remaining hidden under a black hoodie.

"Coming right up," Sapphire said as she floated to her familier station, "What about Lucy and Carl? Aren't they normally here for date night?"

"That's right, I forgot to tell you that Lucy finally got that promotion," Roy chuckled.

"No kidding? Good for her," Sapphire replied as she handed the customer a beer, "Was Carl okay with her skipping date night?"

"Ah you know him, he was all for it," Roy sighed, "And besides, he's got a few relatives from his moms side visiting, so he has his hands pretty full."

"Ah geez, you don't think his Aunt with the glass eyes coming again do you?" Sapphire chuckled, "I swear she's one of the most terrifying old ladies I've ever met, and that's saying something, I've meet more than my fair share of intimidating females back on hom-"

Suddenly Sapphire was struck with a future vision, one that was coming from the stranger. She could see him walking home an hour before sunrise, staggering from left to right along the sidewalk and clearly drunk. Suddenly he stumbled in front of an apartment before he took off his hoodie, and door swung open from the inside….


	2. Chapter 2

"Ah come on Fire, I thought you were all for friendly competition!" Roy groaned towards the bartender, "Why won't you do it?"

"You know perfectly well why I won't do it," Sapphire spat with a grin, "Don't act dumb, you know I don't drink."

"Oh come on, just one shot game!" Roy said, nudging his friend with his empty mug as he spoke, "I've already beaten everyone else here, I need some fresh competition!"

"Give it up Roy, she ain't budgin," A customer said from the far side of the bar, "I've been here for over 50 years and she's never drunk so much as a drop of that stuff."

"Atticus is right Roy," Sapphire chuckled, "I prefer to keep my mind _sharp,_ so alcohols a no for me."

"Then why the h*** do you own a _pub?"_ Roy spat as he slammed his mug on the bar.

"Cause I know how insane you humans can be when your _not_ drunk and it wouldn't hurt to have someone level headed keep everything under control," Sapphire replied unphased, "Plus I enjoy the company that comes with the job-not to mention the _pay._ I've never had a drought."

"But Fire, this place is practically deserted," Roy complained, "Other than Ronni and that old fart Atticus, we're the only ones in the bar! Just how out of control could all of us get from such a small crowd?"

"I'll show you just how insane it can get in here if you keep callin me an old fart!" Atticus barked from the side of the bar, "Seriously, what's with you and those d*** nicknames?"

"What can I say, it's a talent of mine," Roy sighed dramatically, "Honestly, you two should be thanking me for my genius."

"You know, I might just take you up on that," Atticus said sarcastically, "Maybe the two of us could repay you by giving you your own fitting nickname. How do you like the name Jack-ass?"

"Jack _what?"_ Roy spat, "Hey that's not fair at all!"

"Roys right Atticus," Sapphire chuckled as she sat on the bar (seeing how all three of her customers seemed content with their drinks), "You shouldn't insult donkeys like that, it's downright cruel."

"HEY!" Roy cried, though Sapphire and Atticus could barely hear him over their laughter.

Sapphire enjoyed running such an active pub, not only because she could meet new people (each one of them both similar and different than the last), but also to spend quality time with some of her closser friends who she hadn't seen in awhile. Atticus was one of her regulars, he was an old sailor with a stormy white beard, ocean green eyes, and skin that was deeply tanned and wrinkled from constant hot days under the sun. Yet despite his old age, Atticus was as wittful and sharp as ever. He was still an active fisherman along the bay of Empire City and was well known among the other sailors.

Roy was like most of his brothers and his motorcycle gang: Big, thirsty, and loud. Roy and his gang were practically the life of Starlight Tavern, and almost all the regulars were familiar with them. Though they all had their own jobs (although most of them worked under the same roof), they all met together at Starlight Tavern at least 5 to 4 times a week, and during the summer they all traveled together doing who knew what around the continent (Sapphire had even joined them for a week, it was a moment of her life she'd never forget), but there were a few rare moments where only one or two of them could make it, and on this particularly lazy morning, Roy was the only member of the gang to show up. Roy was a rough man with shaggy brown hair and sharp blue eyes that matched his wise-guy attitude. Roy was more comedic than he was strong, but Sapphire suspected he knew how to defend himself when it really mattered, though thankfully she'd never seen him in any mortal danger. Roy was easy to talk to and even easier to entertain, and Sapphire enjoyed spending quality time with him.

Then there was Ronnie, another one of Sapphires regulars, though he was far different than any of her other customers, one with very few similarities. Ronnie was a pale man with black hair and grey eyes, he couldn't have been much older than 30 and always kept to himself. His visits to the pub were more random and spontaneous than anyone else Sapphire knew, her future vision rarely predicted his entry like she did with her other customers, and only did so past midnight when almost no one was around. There was a certain darkness that followed Ronnie wherever he went, one that spoke for itself and changed the atmosphere around him. It was something Sapphire suspected he wanted to drown out with Alcohol, yet despite visiting a pub, he never once ordered anything but water, and after that he would sit in the corner away from anyone else, as though he didn't want to spoil their good time without being asked. Sapphire would have understood if he chose to use alcohol as an escape, but she respected him for not doing so at the same time. When it was just Ronnie and Sapphire, he would sit at the bar and make generally casual talk about sports or the weather as Sapphire worked or cleaned up the place. She wanted to understand his burden and help him with whatever it was that had such a heavy effect on him, but she knew better than to ask. Sometimes she was even tempted to look into his future to find out what was wrong, but she never went through with it. It was his life, whether he wanted to share his life issues or not was his choice, Sapphire wouldn't press for details against his will. Furthermore, the fact that he came to the pub and didn't drink said something else all together. He didn't come here for liquor, he came to this bar as an escape, to take a break from whatever monster that existed in his life, and the last thing he needed was to be reminded of whatever it was he was avoiding. So Sapphire continued to talk to him in his visits, sometimes it was nothing more than a hello and a goodbye, but Sapphire sensed that it meant something to Ronnie, she sensed that he was grateful for their friendship, no matter how small it was.

"So Roy, where are the others tonight?" Sapphire asked as the door swung open and another customer came in.

"Ah, you know, same old stuff," Roy replied as the customer sat near the edge of the bar, "Guss and Morton have the auto body and some meeting tomorrow, so they had to call it a night early."

"You mean earlier than 4:38 in the morning?" Sapphire chuckled as she floated to the new customer, "That's believable. What can I get you?"

"A cold beer'd be fine," The stranger grumbled while remaining hidden under a black hoodie.

"Coming right up," Sapphire said as she floated to her familier station, "What about Lucy and Carl? Aren't they normally here for date night?"

"That's right, I forgot to tell you that Lucy finally got that promotion," Roy chuckled.

"No kidding? Good for her," Sapphire replied as she handed the customer a beer, "Was Carl okay with her skipping date night?"

"Ah you know him, he was all for it," Roy sighed, "And besides, he's got a few relatives from his moms side visiting, so he has his hands pretty full."

"Ah geez, you don't think his Aunt with the glass eyes coming again do you?" Sapphire chuckled, "I swear she's one of the most terrifying old ladies I've ever met, and that's saying something, I've meet more than my fair share of intimidating females back on hom-"

Suddenly Sapphire was struck with a future vision, one that was coming from the stranger. She could see him walking home an hour before sunrise, staggering from left to right along the sidewalk and clearly drunk. Suddenly he stumbled in front of an apartment before he took off his hoodie, and door swung open from the inside….

"What, from homeworld?" Roy asked, drawing Sapphire back into reality, "Woof! I'm glad I never had to meet any of those rotten _clods_ as you so often put it. She and her husband practically raised Carl, but man is she scary-and it sure doesn't help that she doesn't approve of Lucy. Hey, are you listening to me Fire?"

"She had another vision," Atticus sighed without so much as looking up from his paper, "Something strong from the way it looks."

"Right as alway Atticus," Sapphire chuckled before floating towards the stranger as he lifted the beer to his mouth. "Woah woah, hold on a sec," She chuckled as she snatched the beer away from the customer, "I'm gonna have to see some kinda identification from you first."

"H-Hey!" The stranger whined before clearing his throat, "I-I mean-what gives lady? You didn't need that when you first gave me the beer!"

"That was before I had a vision of you walking down the street a few hours from now like you were on a balance beam," Sapphire snickered, holding the beer just out of his reach, "You sure you can handle your liquor?"

"Of course I can," The stranger spat defensively, "This isn't my first time drinking you know!"

"Really now?" Sapphire asked in amusement, "Cause I've never seen you around this pub, and I've been here since the day it's opened, though judging from your sweatshirt, it's not like your new to the area." The gem nodded towards the 'Empire High' logo the sweatshirts that the boy had been trying to cover up with his arms.

"Yeah, and that high school sweatshirt doesn't exactly look too big on you," Roy added, looking closely at the stranger a few steps away from him, "Just how old are you kid?"

"That's none of your concern," The stranger stuttered, "Why do you even care?"

"I _care_ because this is my pub and I can't be selling liquor to anyone underaged," Sapphire replied, "Look kid, your not fooling anyone. I can get you some water or some cider if you want, but your not gonna-"

"Oh come on lady! Look, I got a lot of cash, I swear I'm old enough, I just forgot my ID at home," The stranger cried as he pulled out a wad of cash from his pocket, "But I _did_ bring enough for a couple drinks okay? Just give me the- _hey! What do you think your-"_

Before the stranger could finish his sentence, Atticus toor the hood off the boys head and revealed his face. The boy couldn't have been any older than 16, his shocked expression reminded Sapphire of a child who was caught after trying to steal his mom's cookies.

"I-um-I know how this must look, but-" The boy gave a sigh as he admitted to defeat, "Okay fine, you caught me alright? So I'm not 21, big deal."

"Kid, trust me, it's not worth it to drink right now," Sapphire sighed, "Not while your brains-"

"Still undeveloped? Vulnerable? Yeah yeah I know about all that," The teenager groaned, "I already got the lecture from school."

"Well you sure ain't acting like it kid," Roy spat, "Otherwise you wouldn't have showed up in a pub past 4 am ordering a beer!"

"I don't need a lecture from you too alright?" The teenager spat, "Your not my dad or anything! Why can't you just mind your own business?"

"Kid, you were just asking me for a beer, I'm pretty sure you made it my business when you walked in under a fake ID," Sapphire said, more amused than annoyed at this point, "I'm not asking for your life's story or anything, it's just a bit weird how you happen to know the consequenses of underaged drinking but came regardless."

The teenager didn't reply as his face reddened and he put his hoodie over his head again (though not enough to conceal his face like he had last time). Sapphire was beginning to sense some uneasy tension from the teenager now, it wasn't nearly as heavy as Ronnies, but it seemed heavy enough for him to drown his sorrows in liquor.

"Look kid, I'm not going anywhere," Sapphire sighed as she sat in front of the stranger (whose eyes were still glued to the floor), "I'll still be here when your 21, you can come for a beer then, but I can't give any now, you understand. In the meanwhile I could offer you some cider if you still want to hang out before heading home."

The stranger sat in silence for a moment and stared at the ground like he wanted it to melt. Sapphire got the impression that he wanted to say something, but chose to keep it to himself.

"Ah what the h***, I got some time to kill," He finally sighed, folding his arms along the bar as he spoke.

"Hm, I don't suppose you know a kid Anthony by chance, would you?" Roy asked as Sapphire turned to find the apple cider, "Anthony Gerom?"

"Um…...no, I don't think so," The boy replied, "Why, is he your son or something?"

"He's my first cousin twice removed-or, 2nd cousin first removed, a son of my one of my relatives anyways," Roy said, scratching his head as he did so, "Anyhow, he goes to Empire High, are you sure you haven't seen him on the basketball team?"

"No, I barely know the basketball team," The teenager sighed, "I'm not really into sports…...I'm more of the literary type."

"Ah, I see," Sapphire replied as she placed the cup of cider in front of the teenager, "I'm assuming your not much of a fan for the pep-rally?"

"Don't make me laugh," the boy chuckled (ironically), "A large crowded sweaty room full of screaming teenagers? Pass! I skip that every year, gives me time to work on homework."

"I hear you kid," Roy cackled, "Heck, Anthony's in the JV baseball, and even he admits the pep rallies lost its flare! Of course, he doesn't exactly do any _homework_ in his spare time, but you get the idea."

"Well he should really start if he doesn't want to fail math," The boy laughed, "Midterms are in less than a month, if he has for math then she'll crush him."

"Oh boy, the classic former-Sargent teacher eh?" Sapphire chuckled, "How bad is she on a scale of 1-10?"

"...12."

"Geez, she doesn't sound like the teacher to mess with," Atticus chuckled from the other side of the bar, "Don't tell me you've ever gotten on her bad side."

"She's got nothing but a bad side," The boy sighed, "She's _ruthless,_ especially during midterms and exams. If your cousin is slacking off in her class, he's toast."

"And yet here you are in a pub past 4 am on a school night," Roy cackled, "Your worried about Anthony failing Midterms? Ha! Talk about the kettle calling the pot black."

"Yea yea, fair enough," The boy sighed after drinking some of his cider, "Look, this isn't a regular thing for me okay? I just…..had to get away for awhile, you know?"

"Take as much time as you need kid," Sapphire said sympathetically, "By the way, are you gonna tell us your name, or are we gonna have to just keep calling you 'kid'?"

"Oh-um-K-Kyle," Kyle said quickly, "Sorry, I didn't even realize I didn't introduce myself…."

"No sweat kid," Roy chuckled, "The name's Roy, I'm really the only normal one around here. The old fart on the end of the bar is Atticus, and this Ice Witch is Sapphi- _ouch!"_ Roy suddenly cried as a boot collided with the back of his head, "What the h***?"

"I told you to stop with those nicknames," Atticus grumbled as he came over and retrieved his boot, "You gotta learn some respect."

"How, by hurling something at my head?"

"Yup."

"Your insane."

"Your the pot calling the kettle black."

"Wait wait-what's your name?" Kyle asked, much more intrigued with the bartender in front of him.

"Sapphire, though contrary toward Roy's _nickname,"_ Sapphire added, smacking her friend on the backside of the head playfully, "My friends call me Fire, not Ice Witch."

"Sapphire?" Kyle repeated the name like he was talking to a ghost, "Wait-are you one of those gem people? The ones who fought monsters and stuff?"

"Mm-hm," Sapphire said with a nod, "I wasn't an _technically_ official member, butI did my part when pus came to shove."

"Wow….my history teacher talked a lot about you guys-he showed us a lot of videos made by some Ronaldo-but I didn't think that gem stuff was real," Kyle gasped in amazement, "Wait, how long have you been around?..."

"Meh, I kinda lost track a few thousand years ago," Sapphire replied with a shrug, "Who can really say?"

" _A few thousand years?"_ Kyle cried, "Oh come on, there's no way your that old, just look at you!"

"I'll take that as a complement," Sapphire chuckled, "Believe it or not, I'm _much_ older than I look."

"Yea but you sure don't always act like it," Roy cackled.

"Like your one to talk," Sapphire snickered, "In case you haven't noticed, I decided to run a pub, just how mature do you think I would be?"

"So, um, Sapphire," Kyle stuttered, "Just-do you know any other-er, gems?"

"Sure, but there not really around here," Sapphire chuckled, "Most of them live in Beach City, but there are more scattered all over the earth. One of my friends lives in Scotland actually, though it's been a few years since we've seen each other, we still keep in touch."

"I see," Kyle yawned as he placed down his mug.

"Well, thanks for the service as always Fire," Atticus called as he slapped his payment on the bar, "Time to head over to the docs. See you the same time tomorrow."

"I'm looking forward to it," Saphire called as Atticus made his way to the door, "What about you Kyle? Think you'll be heading home soon?"

"Eh, not much of a point," Kyle sighed, "School starts at like 7:00, and it's almost 5, I doubt an hour of sleep will make a difference-if anything it'd just throw me off."

"Fair enough, are you at least gonna get your stuff from home," Sapphire asked as she took Roys empty glass."

"Don't have too," Kyle lifted his backpack as he spoke, "I….didn't really go home after school, so all my stuff's still with me."

"Geez kid, ain't your parents nervous?" Sapphire gave Roy a nudge as he spoke, not wanting to intrude on his life.

"Honesty, my….family….might not even be home," Kyle laughed dryly, though he didn't smile as he spoke, "And even if they are, they probably wouldn't notice if I was there, much less if I _weren't._ This…..isn't the first time I skipped home…it is the first time I came to a bar though."

"Well, try not to make it your last," Sapphire said with a smile, "It'd be nice to see your face around here more often."

"Heh, thanks," Kyle chuckled, this time with a smile, "I wouldn't mind hanging out here either."

"Well, don't rush on out just yet," Roy yawned as he stretched, "If ya some time to kill before school then stay here and I can buy you some eggs, my treat."

"Thanks, but I still have my own money so you really….wait, you sell food here?" Kyle asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yup, this is sorta like an old-fashioned pub, despite the name," Sapphire gestured to a menu hanging above their heads that could have been easily overlooked, "It serves alcohol, food, and even offers a few rooms upstairs, though no one's asked for a room since that hotel opened up from across the street," Sapphire added as she took away Kyle's empty cup.

"Hm, not bad," Kyle said with a half grin, "Yea, I wouldn't mind some eggs right about now."

"Scrambled or hard boiled?"

"Whatever's cheaper."

"HA! I like this kid," Roy cackled, "Go for the scrambled, trust me!"

"I'll take your word for it," Kyle chuckled as he took held up his backpack, "I might as well catch up on some school work while I'm here."

"Ugh, you do that kinda stuff on purpose?" Roy groaned, "Come on kid, you can't waste all your time on stuff like that."

"Well I should if I want a scholarship to a good collage," Kyle replied as he pulled out a fairly large text book, "You can never be too careful."

"Ain't that the truth," Sapphire chuckled as she floated towards the back, "Alright, you kids hang in there."

"Hey!" Roy called back, "Only one of us here is underaged!"

"Ah yes, my bad," Sapphire chuckled (the two of them could still hear her from the small kitchen), "Kyle's much more mature than you, please forgive my ignorance."

"I'm used to it," Kyle laughed, "I'm sure it won't happen again."

"You know, sometimes I feel like you forget I've got feelings Ice Witch," Roy groaned as he stretched casually along the bar.

"Yeah? Well sometimes I feel like you forgot I can burn your eggs," Sapphire called, "You know I've got a no-refund policy."

"No you don't!"

"I do for people who call me Ice Witch."

"You never learn do you?" Kyle snickered as he flipped the pages through his text book, "I'm assuming you've done this before?"

"You catch on pretty quick, dontcha?" Roy chuckled, "I bet you'd get along well with a friend of mine."

"You mean your cousin?"

"Nope, she's a member of my gang! I swear everytime I look at that girl she's got her head in a book, she's two or three of at a time, I bet you two bookworms would have a lot to talk about."

"She's…..a member of your gang?"

"Yup!"

"Um-how old is she again?"

"About 19, maybe a little older."

"Does she go to college?"

"Already graduated."

"What the-what is she doing in a-gang? Ah, no offense."

"Oh come on kid, it's not like we break the law or anything," Roy sighed, "We just have a bit of fun every now and then. But yea, you wouldn't expect someone like her to be in such a crazy group! Let me tell ya, the story behind it is a good one! See, back when-"

"YO ROY!"

Kyle's conversation with Roy was suddenly cut short as the door slammed open and 4 or five people barged, breaking the seemingly quiet atmosphere in the morning.

"Hey, where have you guys been?" Roy cried as his friends swarmed the bar, "You were all so late, we didn't think you were coming!"

"Yeah, sorry about that," A man sitting next to Roy snickered, "You can thank Tom for the delay!"

"Oh come on, anyone could have mistaken that motorcycle for mine!" Tom argued, "I mean the cop had it parked right next to mine!"

"You think you would have put two and two together when everyone around us started slowing down!"

"Or how about when you turned the sirens on and freaked out that old man?"

"Or when the actual _police_ showed up?"

"Hey hey, it's not like any of you could tell either," The man barked defensively, "You guys never said anything while it was all going down!"

"We _tried,_ but you couldn't here us over the d*** sirens!" A woman with long black hair cried.

"Oh come on give me some slack! It's only the third time this has happened, at least it was a different cop this time."

"Your unbelievable T," The woman sighed, "Hey Roy, are you gonna introduce us to your new friend?" The woman added, gesturing towards the teenager sitting relatively close to Roy.

"Oh-er-h-hi," Kyle stuttered with a crooked smile, "I'm-um-I'm Kyle, and-"

"Speak up kid, none of us can hear you!" One of the men cried as he leaned over the edge of the bar, "Come on, we won't bite!"

"This kid's name is Kyle, he goes to Empire High," Roy exclaimed as he swung an arm over Kyles shoulder, "What's the matter kid, you were talking just fine before!"

"Yeah, well….there wasn't a lot of people before either," Kyle muttered as his face became a dark shade of red, "I'm not great around…...people."

"What? I never saw you as the anxious type," Roy chuckled, "Don't worry kid, we're not the jude-y type, no need to feel all shy around us!"

"W-Well, it's not exactly something I can control," Kyle murmured as he flipped his hoodie back on, "But thanks…...you guys seem alright…."

"Sure, they do _now,"_ Sapphire said as she emerged from the kitchen with her classic smirk, "When they first show up their the life of the party, but after 5 hours of _destroying_ the liquor bar and scaring away all the decent customers, they suddenly don't seem to great."

"Hey, we practically run this place!" Tom cried, "We're your most faithful customers, your bar wouldn't be running if it weren't for us Fire!"

"Okay okay, I think your giving yourself too much credit," Sapphire chuckled as she placed the plates of scrambled eggs in front of her customers, "But I have to admit, you guys do keep me running."

"See?" Roy snapped, "You owe us a lot Ice Witch, we deserve some kinda reward for our labors!"

"Labors?" Kyle chuckled, "Showing up to a bar and drinking the entire stock of liquor is work now?...can I get that job?"

"HA! Trust me kid, it's much harder than it looks! But then again, you wouldn't know" Roy then turned to his friends and spoke in a lower tone, " _He's underaged,"_ He said in a loud whisper, as though it wasn't already a common fact.

"Wooooow, I didn't know kids in school couldn't drink," The girl responded sarcastically, "D***, would've been nice to have known that when I was in high school. Well, too late now!"  
"If the kid can't drink, what is he even doing here?"

"Oh-um-I-" Kyle stuttered as his face redden once more.

"Kyle here just wanted to stop by and say hi before he went to school," Sapphire chimed in as she sprinkled some salt on the plates before them, "And I thought I'd treat him to some breakfast. Right, Roy?" Sapphire asked as she looked toward her friends general direction and picked up a spray bottle.

"Ah, yeah, exactly," Roy chuckled as he took a bite of his eggs, "What the Ice witch said, I-" Roy suddenly stopped talking as he began to gag, as though he were choking on something stuck in his throat, followed by the hysterical laughter of his gang as he spat his scrambled eggs across the bar.

"What the h-" Roy coughed, not able to finish his sentence, "What did you _do_ to my d*** eggs?"

"What's the matter Roy? Can't handle a little pepper?" Sapphire chuckled as she sprayed down the bar.

"I can when I know about it," Roy spat, now having to yell to be heard over his hysterical friends, "I nearly choked on that crap! What were you thinking?"

"I was _thinking_ you needed to be reminded not to mess with a Queen in her palace," Sapphire replied as she wiped down her bar, "You knew what you were up against when you called me Ice Witch, if you can't handle the heat then get out of the kitchen smart-a**."

"Yeash, aren't you the sensitive one," Roy grumbled as he examined what was left of his eggs.

"HA! You nearly choked on a bit of pepper and she's sensitive?" Tom spat, "Just what kinda logic is that?"

"Dude, just don't call her Ice witch!" The girl cackled, "Is that so hard?"

"Hey, you know how I get about my nicknames Seaweed," Roy replied defensively, "Once I think of one it sticks!"

"Yea well Fire already had a nickname!"

"But she doesn't have fire powers!"

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!"

"Wait-did you just call her-Seaweed?" Kyle said, glancing at the woman with confusion, "That's a bit…..strange….."

"Please, you should hear some of the other stuff he comes up with," The woman chuckled as she leaned over the bar, "But yea, I dyed my hair green _once_ in 10th grade and he's been calling me that name ever since!"

"Seriously?" One of the men asked, "I thought he called you that because you smoked weed or something."

"What the h*** is wrong with you?" Seaweed cried as she smacked the man on the arm, "What the h*** gave you that idea?"  
"I don't know," The man chuckled over the laughter of his comrades, "I mean you always had that weird smell and I just figured-"

"Oh what, you mean _soap?_ Then again you wouldn't know that 't-know-how-to-take-a-bath!"

"I know what a bath is, I just think it's a waste of good water!"

"Honestly, I thought humans were more evolved than that," Sapphire chuckled as she sat on the edge of her bar, "Honestly Chuck, your really no better than a caveman."

"Hey, give the caveman a little more credit Fire," Tom cackled, "At least he'd stop repeating the same thing over and over while expecting the same results. I mean that's-"

"I know I know, that's 'the definition of in insanity'"," Chuck sighed, "You guys have told me that once or twice before."

"And yet here we are, telling it to you again."

"Oh come on, cut me some slack!" Chuck cried, "Roy, help me out here!"

"No can do bud," Roy replied as he ate a mouthful of eggs (notebly from Kyles plate), "You got yourself into this one!"

"Yeah, seriously," Seaweed cried, "But hey, it wasn't as bad as the time you stole that old ladies motorcycle from that pizza place."

"What, you mean the one in Beach City?" Chuck cried, "How was I supposed to know that was hers? She seemed like a sweet old lady!"

"Well she sure didn't act like it after you _stole_ her motorcycle!"

"It was an _accident!"_

"Er-S-Sapphire," Kyle said, not wanting to disturb the others, "Could I…...get a new order of eggs, please?" He asked, looking at his soon-to-be empty plate next to him.

"Ah, hold on a sec," Sapphire said with a grin, before picking up a rolled up newspaper and smacking Roy on the head with it, "What did I tell you about eating other peoples food?"

"Hey! I only had to after you poisoned mine," Roy said defensively, almost choking on his eggs from the sudden attack.

"Poisoned is a bit of a strong word, don't you think," Sapphire snickered, "There was only a 5% chance you would have choked on that, no biggie."

" _5%?"  
_ "Okay okay, 7%, but still no big deal."

"Easy for you to say-you weren't the only one eating the d*** eggs!"

"And I also wasn't the one playing with fire," Sapphire replied as she placed her hand under the counter, "You know Roy, if you don't stop referring me by that atrocious name, I might have to teach you a lesson through…. _other_ methods."

Roy narrowed his eyes toward the bartender.

"Now look who's playing with fire. Just what do you think your-"

Suddenly, Sapphire lifted a bucket and dropped it on top of the bar with a slam, shaking the entire bar and the food laying on it as she did so (not that the others payed much mind to this). Kyle expected the bucket to be filled with ice cubes or beer bottles, but was surprised to find the bucket full to the brim with bright neon pink paint.

"Sapphire," Roy said, rather uneasy, "I don't like where this is going….."

"Why do you even have that?" Kyle laughed, quite surprised and amused by the randomness.

"Let's just say I had a hunch that I would need it," Sapphire replied as she floated over the bar with the bucket at hand, "Roy, which motercykle is yours again?"

"Uh-"

"It's the one with the komodo dragon painted on the side, can't miss is," Tom said, taking a pause from his conversation to give Sapphire her information.

"Heh, funny thing about komodo dragons," Sapphire grew a mischievous look as she spoke, "They look _excellent_ in pink."

"How would you kn-HEY WAIT A MINUTE!" Roy cried as he jumped to his feet and knocked over his chair, "DON'T YOU DARE!"

"Fellas, could you-"

"Already on it fire," Tom said as he and Chuck grabbed Roys arms, "All taken care of!"

"Thanks guys," Sapphire laughed with a solute.

"Ice witch!" Roy snapped, "I _swear-"_

"What's what, you want pink tires too?" Sapphire asked as she floated towards the door, "As you wish!"

"D*****!"

"Hey, left my keys at the bar," Atticus said, coming in suddenly and nodding towards sapphire, "Oh and here, figured you'd need this," He added as he handed sapphire a brush.

Kyle stared at the old man in amazement. Not only was he unphased by the chaos spewing about him, but he somehow knew that Sapphire would need a paintbrush, as though he knew this was going to happen.

"I-what-how?" Kyle stuttered as Atticus casually walked up to the bar and took a pair of keys from the table.

The man looked towards Kyle and let out a small chuckle, as though he were the only strange thing in the bar.

"Welcome to Starlight Tavern."

That being said, the man walked past Sapphire (giving her a small nod as he did so) and promptly left the store without another word.

Kyle glanced over towards the loud group sitting next to them, half of them were trying to keep Roy under control while the other half just laughed or helped themselves to some of the Taverns beverages. The gang reminded Roy of the kids at Kyles high school: Big and Loud. But they weren't quite the same, Kyle couldn't tell if it was because they were adults, but he felt much more relaxed around these people than he did with the teens at school. They seemed more easy going, less judgmental, like he could do or say anything that came to mind without being judged for it. The atmosphere was strange and new to Kyle, yet somehow, it was almost familiar, something very home like. The teenager smiled to himself as he picked up his jar and drank the last remainder of his cider.

" _I could get used to this…."_ The boy thought to himself as he closed his eyes, before something came across his mind that caused his eyes to shoot open and for cider to spray across the bar.

"Wait-was she JUST FLOATING?"

-Epilogue-

"Hey guys, Fire here. I'd say that made a good 2nd chapter, I'll never get over people's reaction to me floating XD. Right Nox?"

"..."

"Nox?"

"..."

"What's this, the 'great and powerful narrators too good for her own Epilogue?"

"..."

"..."

"-_-"

"..."

"._."

"-_-"

"._."

"-_-"

"...your still mad at me, aren't you?"

" _ **NO FREAKING KIDDING!"**_

"*sigh* Nox, you're too sensitive, you know that?"

"SENSITIVE? That's easy for you to say, you weren't the one who was called….the _d_ word…"

"You mean Diamond?"

"DoN't sAy tHAt nAmE!"

"Honestly, I would have forgotten that I called you that in the last epilogue if you weren't still holding a grudge."

"Oh yes, I'm sure you would have just LOVED it if I had magically forgotten how you compared me to the heartless-no-good-triple-chinned-spineless-yellow-bellied-cruel-insensitive-gem-shattering beasts!"

"...triple chind?"

"TRIPLE CHINED!"

"Riiiiiiiiiight. Oh, and for the record, only one of them has a yellow belly."

"ThAT's nOt tHE PoInT yOu INseNsitIVe HICBSJCNJSCACACAUSBCBSVCHSHB-"

"Nox, calm down!"

"Never!"

"Please!"

"No!"

"Your scaring the viewers more than you did in your Yillestan High fanfic!"

"*gasp* you take that back you-you-not-nice-person!"

"Nox-"

"Or should I say, not _ice_ person!"

"..."

"Don't look at me like that!"  
"*sigh* Look, Nox, I didn't mean it, okay? I've been to homeworld, I've seen White diamond face to face, and I can promise you that your nothing like her!"

"...you mean it?"

"Yes, of course! If White Diamond had been as mad at me as you were, she would have shattered me by now. You've been mad at me for like a week, and you haven't so much as laid a finger on me."

"Of course I wouldn't! Your my friend, I would never hurt you! (and not just because it's impossible since your a fictional character inside a fanfiction)"

"I know you wouldn't, and I know that your nothing like any of the diamonds, and I'm sorry if you thought I did, I was joking, honest."

"...okay."

"Are we cool?"

"...yeah, we're cool :)."

"Good :D"

"Yeah!"

"Alright, now we've taken enough of the viewers time (or those who are still reading this anyways XD), I think we should give them the preview and call it a night."

"Sounds good to me! Plus, I gotta finish writing the next chapter (I've been looking forward to it for a while now)"

"Yeah, and maybe do some homework while your at it?"

"Hahahahahahahaa-no."

"*sigh* hey, it's your life. Alright, thank you all for your patience, here's the preview."

"See you next time folks!"

 ***-** _ **Flaaaaaaaaaaash!-***_

"Vic, nice to see you again," Sapphire chuckled as she floated over to her fairly new friend, "Sorry that I took so long, I was on the phone with an old friend."

"I can see," Victor chuckled as his eyes drifted toward the old fashioned phone sitting near the back, "I'm surprised that phone still works, it's ancient! What's it from-the 1920s?"

"1912, actually," Sapphire replied as a new customer sat a few sets from Victor, "and yeah, it's been a bit hard keeping in running for so long, but you'd be surprised what an old timer like me is capable of."

"I don't doubt that for a second," Victor laughed, "Still, why don't you get a new one, like a touch screen?"

"Meh, waste of money," Sapphire replied as she poured her customer a champagne glass, "Those phones may be new now, but they'll be as ancient as the one I have in a few years. Besides, I only need a phone to call people, something simple."

"That's a fair point," Victor murmured, still staring at the phone as he took a sip of his beer. "Do you know what I'm about to ask?"

"How many gems are still on earth?"

"Of course you do."

"You'll get used to it," Sapphire chuckled, "Honestly, I don't know for certain. A lot of them were….well, shattered, and those who weren't…...aren't quite right in the head…" Sapphire became quiet for a moment as she stared off into space, before snapping back into reality and shaking her head, "But-er-I think there's still a few gems who survived the final attack. Aqua was one of the lucky ones, she was too far to be affected."

Sapphire could tell Victor wanted to ask more as he opened his mouth, but stopped suddenly, as though he could tell it was a topic Sapphire rarely discussed, even to those she was closest to.

"Is there….any other gems….besides you and…..Aqua?" He finally asked, not wanting to get too personal.

"HA! You should ask that guy who showed up from Jersey the other day," Chuck cackled, suddenly reminding Victor that he was in a bussy Tavern, "Apparently he saw a gem flying over his city and threw his shoe at it!"

"What, you mean that blue chick with the short hair?" Sapphire asked, returning back to her normal self, "Yeah, I heard about that, that guy was pretty wasted, you sure he wasn't seeing things?"

"Hey, lots of weird crap goes around that town near the beach," Seaweed replied after draining her mug, "I wouldn't be surprised if one or two gems lived there."

"Wait-seriously?" Victor asked, getting a nervous look, "But, um….they're not hostile or anything, are they…?"

"Depends if you are towards them," Sapphire said with a menacing grin, before returning to her classic half grin and turning around to refill a mug of beer, "But no, if there's any gems on earth, they've got good intentions towards humans. No need to worry vic clod hasn't come from homeworld in literal centuries, you likely won't ever see one in your lifetime. Anyhow, how's life been since moving-"

Suddenly, the door to the Tavern crashed into the wall with a large crash, followed by a large smash as a glass cup near the door shattered against the ground. The live band playing there that night came to a stop as everyone's attention became drawn to the stranger standing at the door.

" _ **WHERE THE H*** IS SHE?"  
**_ A shiver crawled down Sapphires spine as the loud thunderous voice echoed in the deathly quiet bar. She didn't have to face the stranger to know where she was from.


	3. Chapter 3

"-And so I threw him out on his a**!"

"Wait, seriously?" Sapphire laughed into the phone, "No way! What'd he do then?"

"Aye, the lad had guts I tell ya! He got right back up and started barking at me that he hadn't finished his beer, so I took the d*** thing and threw it at his head!"

"Whoa, Aqua, you could get into serious trouble for that! Did you hit him?"

"Of course not! The lad was drunk, but he was able to duck and it smashed into the wall behind him. But let me tell ya, it got pretty ugly after that!"

"Ugly enough for the cops to show up?"

"Ya better believe it lass!"

"Yo Fire," someone called from the bar, "Can I get a refill over here?"

"In a sec," Sapphire called, holding her hand over the tube of her old-fashioned phone.

"You've been saying that for the past 10 minutes!" The man replied, "You've been working your employees to the bone!"

"Yeah, come on Fire, off the phone already!"

"Alright alright, I hear you," Sapphire chuckled before raises the earpiece back to her ear,"Sorry Aqua, duty calls."

"Aye, I understand. Always a pleasure hearing your voice lass!"

"Nice to hear you too," Fire chuckled, "Take care."

"You too lass!"

That being said, Sapphire hung up the small horn-like speaker before floating back to the bar where her customers eagerly awaited.

"Who was that you were talking too?" Chuck asked as Sapphire took his empty mug for a refill, "Was it that Aquamarine girl again?"

"The one and only," Sapphire replied as she filled the mug with rum, "It's been a while since I've had a proper conversation with her, she's had her hands pretty full lately."

"Yeah, I gathered that much from your side of the conversation," Seaweed replied after slamming an empty mug on the bar, "You're really gonna have to show us that girl in person one of these days!"  
"I will if I can, but you have to remember that she's in Scotland, it be a bit hard," Sapphire chuckled as she handed Chuck his rum, "But I know she's like you guys."

"Man, I didn't know you had a pen-pal in Scotland," Victor chuckled from the other side of the bar, "She sounds pretty…..lively."

"Vic, nice to see you again," Sapphire chuckled as she floated over to her fairly new friend, "Sorry that I took so long, I was on the phone with an old friend."

Over the years, Sapphire had met a number of unique and interesting gems while acting a double agent in the gem war, but Aqua had been the only aquamarine who didn't outright disgust Sapphire. Not only was she one of the few aquamarines who sided with the crystal gems, but she had a spontaneous and entertaining personality that never got old, and it had been a while since the two of them were able to talk to each other. That was why when Aqua had suddenly called about 30 minutes ago, Sapphire hadn't even noticed Victor walk in only a few moments later (not that he seemed to have minded). Thankfully for her, Sapphire had a few assistants who were helping her deal with the crowded bar that day, so he had already been served a cold beer.

"I can see," Victor chuckled as his eyes drifted toward the old fashioned phone sitting near the back, "I'm surprised that phone still works, it's ancient! What's it from-the 1920s?"

"1912, actually," Sapphire replied as a new customer sat a few sets from Victor, "and yeah, it's been a bit hard keeping it running for so long, but you'd be surprised what an old timer like me is capable of."

"I don't doubt that for a second," Victor laughed, "Still, why don't you get a new one, like a touch screen?"

"Meh, waste of money," Sapphire replied as she poured her customer a champagne glass, "Those phones may be new now, but they'll be as ancient as the one I have in a few years. Besides, I only need a phone to call people, something simple."

"That's a fair point," Victor murmured, still staring at the phone as he took a sip of his beer. "Do you know what I'm about to ask?"

"How many gems are still on earth?"

"Of course you do."

"You'll get used to it," Sapphire chuckled, "Honestly, I don't know for certain. A lot of them were….well, shattered, and those who weren't…...aren't quite right in the head…" Sapphire became quiet for a moment as she stared off into space, before snapping back into reality and shaking her head, "But-er-I think there's still a few gems who survived the final attack. Aqua was one of the lucky ones, she was too far to be affected."

Sapphire could tell Victor wanted to ask more as he opened his mouth, but stopped suddenly, as though he could tell it was a topic Sapphire rarely discussed, even to those she was closest to.

"Are there….any other gems….besides you and…..Aqua?" He finally asked, not wanting to get too personal.

"HA! You should ask that guy who showed up from Jersey the other day," Chuck cackled, suddenly reminding Victor that he wasn't alone in the busy Tavern, "Apparently he saw a gem flying over his city and threw his shoe at it!"

"What, you mean that blue chick with the short hair?" Sapphire asked, returning back to her normal self, "Yeah, I heard about that. But the guy was pretty wasted, you sure he wasn't seeing things?"

"Hey, lots of weird crap goes around that town near the beach," Seaweed replied after draining her mug, "I wouldn't be surprised if one or two gems lived there."

"Wait-seriously?" Victor asked, getting a nervous look, "But, um….they're not hostile or anything, are they…?"

"Depends if you are towards them," Sapphire said with a menacing grin, before returning to her classic half grin and turning around to refill a mug of beer, "But no, if there's any gems on earth, they've got good intentions towards humans. No need to worry Vic, a clod hasn't come from homeworld in literal centuries, you likely won't ever see one in your lifetime. Anyhow, how's life been since moving-"

Suddenly, the door to the Tavern crashed into the wall with a loud bang, followed by a large smash as a glass cup near the door shattered against the ground. The live band playing there that night came to a stop as everyone's attention became drawn to the stranger standing at the door. Whoever had entered had a dominating force that changed the atmosphere of the small bar, one that Sapphire recognized in almost an instant.

" _ **WHERE THE H*** IS SHE? WHERE'S THE D*** SAPPHIRE?"  
**_ A shiver crawled down Sapphires spine as the loud thunderous voice echoed in the deathly quiet bar. Sapphire had been created in homeworld. She had lived there for most of her life, she knew the gem elites, she had _been_ one, she could recognize the tone of the masculine voice standing at the door. She didn't have to face the stranger to know where she was from.

" _D***,"_ was all Sapphire could think as she clutched to the empty mug in her hands and turned around.

The gem who stood at the door was a massive Quartz, bigger and more sturdy than Sapphire had ever seen from homeworld. Judging from the texture and the quartz pattern (and from the material of her massive helmet), Sapphire reasoned that she was dealing with a jasper, but not just any jasper. When making quartz gems, there was always something wrong with they way they came out. They could be too soft, too large, too skinny, or if they came from the earth, too…. _empathetic._ It was always something, but _this_ Jasper-this Jasper was different, she was rare, and not in a good way. She had come out completely and utterly flawless, not a hair had come out of place, she was just hard enough to pack a punch, but light enough to have the maximum agility and swiftness for someone her size. From the moment she came out the earth, Jasper knew of her own 'purity', she burst from the crust of the ground and shattered nearly a dozen crystal gems from around her. She had the perfect strength, loyalty, and above all else, the perfect _ego._ Next to the Diamonds, Jasper was idolized on Homeworld, in their eyes, she was the one good, rare thing to emerge from a rotten place like earth…..

" _Which begs the question, what is she doing here now?...And furthermore, what is she doing with_ _ **him?..."**_ Sapphire added, referring to the poor man being held by the arm by the massive quartz. Sapphire recognized the man Jasper was dragging as a customer who came to her bar once or twice a week. She knew the man enough to know he would never harm as much as an insect, and now here Jasper was, pushing the human around like he was his pearl. A pit soon began to form in the gems stomach, she knew nothing good could come from this.

"Um, Sapphire," Chuck whispered without taking his eyes off of the intruder, "Please tell me that's Aquamarine….or some other friend you haven't told us about….."

"S-S-Sapphire…." The bartender could feel Victor shaking as he spoke, "Don't tell me that's….."

"Let me handle this," Sapphire spoke in a voice as cold as midnight as the quartz eyes laid on her. But as Sapphire felt the Jasper's eyes burning in her direction, there was something off about it, something…... _feral_. It was as though the all-mighty flawless gem was finally starting to crack. Even so, Sapphire chose to treat the situation with caution, she wasn't about to risk the health of anyone in the bar.

"Hey there, welcome to Starlight Tavern," Sapphire said, drowning her fear with calmness as she spoke with a slight smile, "What can I-"

" _JUST WHAT THE H*** IS THIS?"_ Jasper snapped, dragging the man by the arm as she stormed up to the bar. A few customers scrambled away as the enormous Jasper threatened to crush them in her path. The gem clutched onto the empty cup even tighter, but did not to show her anger.

"Y-You said you w-were l-l-looking for a S-Sapphire," The man stuttered, "I just thought-well-"

"I meant a _**blue**_ Sapphire!" Jasper snapped, "I swear you humans don't have a d*** use!"

"Hey, what the h*** is your problem?" Chuck snapped as he got up from his set.

The Jasper snapped her head toward the human who spoke and looked at him like he had just spat on her foot, "The h*** you just say to me?"

"I _said-"_

" _ **Hey!**_ _That's_ _ **no**_ _way to speak to a superior you organic piece of_ _ **sh**!"**_

Sapphire felt everyone stare at her in shock as she cursed, though no one started at her quite as hard as Chuck himself. Sapphire knew how strong this Jasper was, she knew she couldn't best her in a fight, which meant she would have to make her believe they were on the same side.

"Sorry about him, I keep him here for the brawn, not the brain," Sapphire explained before looking back towards Chuck, "But if I hear you say some crap like that again, I'll throw your a** out on the street and have ya begging for scraps, _got it?"_

Chuck blinked for a second before opening his mouth to speak (from her future vision, Sapphire could only assume he was about to say something stupid).

"H-He understands," Victor quickly stuttered, "I-It won't happen again, your…...um….."

"Clarity to you," Sapphire spat as she leaned against her bar, before glancing back towards Jasper, "He's new here, but some are smarter than others, you know?"

"What the h*** is going on here?" Jasper growled.

"Hm? Oh, you mean the bar?" Sapphire asked, as though the bar was common knowledge, "Sure thing, but I'll have to ask you to put my human down. In case you haven't noticed, they bruise pretty easily."

The Jasper released her tight grip on the human with a quick shove, all without taking here eyes off the Sapphire.

"What the h*** do you need these humans for?" Jasper spat.

"Oh yeah, see, my diamond…." Sapphire paused for a moment, then looked towards the band, "Why the h*** did you stop playing?"  
The band looked towards each other in confusion, "Um-We-"

"What, you think I pay you guys to just lounge around?"

"Well, n-no, it's just-"

"It's just you want your a** to end up on the street, is that it?"

"N-no, of course not!"  
"Then _get to it,"_ Sapphire barked with an icy snap of her fingers. The band hastily collected their instruments and began to fill the bar with a somewhat normal setting, then the gem focused on the crowd watching Jasper with concerned eyes, "Hey hey, nothing to see here," She snapped, "Nothing that would concern _humans_ anyhow. Go mind your own d*** business!" The other customers quickly turned away from the large Jasper, both startled and still somewhat confused by what was happening. Most of the customers found their way to the door, while those who were still curious talked quietly to themselves throughout the bar. Sapphire could foresee one or two customers not returning after that day, but most of them seemed as though they knew Sapphire was acting in their best interest by having them leave. The gem made a mental note to give her band an extra bonus for their troubles and turned back to the Jasper.

"Anyhow, you're probably still wondering what this whole jig is, huh?" Sapphire asked as she snapped her fingers and caught the attention of one of her waiters.

"No s***," Jasper growled, clearly losing her patience.

"Makes sense, this place isn't too popular on homeworld," Sapphire sighed as she gestured for her waiter to go to the back room, "My diamond sent me here about half a century ago. See, it was sometime around the day that…...well, you know, the turning point of the war…...you know what I'm talking about?"

"Anyone who wouldn't would be a d*** clod," Jasper spat as her eyes scanned the bar in suspicion.

"Well then you know how Blue gets around that time of year," Sapphire sighed, "It's never something pretty, but about over 60…..maybe 70 years ago, a few of her favorite humans in the human preserve died, and she had _meltdown."_

"Hmph. That explains the ruby crisis," Jasper muttered as she sat on one of the stools with a slam.

"Yeah, no kidding," Sapphire chuckled, trying to act like she knew what she was doing, "Anyhow, after that Blue started missing Pink more than ever and it was all starting to show, so White realized that the lowly-populated human zoo would have to be refilled and sent me down here to collect a few that would be to her liking."

" _Please buy it please buy it please buy it."_ Sapphire pleaded while trying not to show her panic.

Sapphire foresaw a few possible futures. In one, Jasper rolled her eyes and stormed out of the bar. In another, Jasper slammed her fist on the bar and demanded to know the truth (the one Sapphire was hoping wouldn't come to pass). Then in a third, Jasper broke down and began to cry about how her life was a mess and how she had become dependent on a blue angel who left her for a pink overcooked meat ball.

" _Wait-_ _ **what?"**_ Sapphire wondered, "That-what even was that?" Sapphire shook her head, not wanting to get distracted from the present as Jasper spoke.

"Really? Why would she send you down here for that type of work?" Jasper asked with an arched eyebrow.

"I just told you, to help Blue with her heartache. I mean most of her powers _are_ heavily empathetic so naturally-"

"No, I mean why did she send _you_ here?" Jasper said, jabbing a finger in her direction, "Why send a Sapphire?"

"Come on, this is _White_ we're talking about," Sapphire chuckled, as though it were obvious, "She's got more than a handful of worthy sapphires under her service in homeworld, she had some to spare. And besides, it's reassuring for Blue to know it's a sapphire's overseeing this particular mission."

"Hmph, I guess that makes sense," Jasper growled as she blew a strand of her hair out of her face, "But she didn't send you alone, did she?"  
"Of course not," Sapphire scoffed, "As if My Diamond would send me to this miserable rock with nothing but humans for company. I have a few quarts roaming around in jersey city right now, looking for any humans that fits Blue's taste."

"I see," Jasper muttered as she placed her arm on the table and leaned her head against a tight fist, "And where's your ship?"

"Hm? Oh, it's not with me right now," Sapphire replied, "It dropped me off here about 10 years ago."

"I don't suppose you could call it, could you?" Jasper asked, a shimmer of sudden hope igniting her eyes.

"Oh, er…..hate to burst your bubble, but I can't really do that," Sapphire sighed as she turned around to grab a mug.

"And why the h*** _not?"_ Jasper growled from behind the gem.

" _Stay cool Fire, you're doing fine,"_ The gem reassured herself within the chambers of her own mind as she poured herself a mug of water, " _Keep it up."_

"What, did you forget which planet you were on?" Sapphire laughed as she turned around to face the gem once more, "There was an accident involving a few barbarous humans. Honestly, I should have seen it coming with my future vision, but you know how unpredictable and barbaric this planet can be. Of course, the humans were quickly dealt with, but they did enough damage to break our communicators. I'll spare you all the aggravating details, but the point is, we're not communicating with Home world anytime soon."

"Tell me about it," Jasper grumbled, seeming disappointed in Sapphires news, "My ship got damaged by a load of clods, so it looks like we're both stuck here."

"No kidding?" Sapphire asked as a pit began to form in her stomach, "You and how many others?"

"It's just me and a peridot," Jasper spat, "But I don't know where the h*** she is. Do you have any way idea if homeworld's gonna send you back?"

"If I had to estimate, I'd say-hm-another 5 years?"

"Another _what?"_ Jasper cried as she slammed her fist on the bar.

"I know, I don't know how I'll survive for that long, but I'm sure-"  
"Well no sh**! What the h*** are you gonna do when the cluster emerges?"

" _Cluster?..."_ Sapphire thought, " _Er-Just go with it."_

"Ah, geez, the cluster, right," Sapphire sighed as she face palm herself, "I swear my future vision is _weird_ here! Yeah no-I'm pretty sure a ship will come by sometime before the cluster. They'll probably send a ruby squad."

"They'd better," Jasper growled, "They can't seriously expect a sapphire to be on the earth when that thing emerges. And it'll emerge pretty soon too. You know, it really should have already come out…" Jasper muttered under her breath as she here eyes became cloudy with thought.

Sapphire, who still had no idea what Jasper was going on about, simply gave a nod. "Right, right. Nothing ever goes as planned on this planet, but it should emerge some time know."

"Hey, ya think you could give me and my peridot a ride on your ship when it gets here? All of our communications have been cut off, and our piece of sh** ships not going anywhere anytime soon."

"Oh-er-that could be difficult" Sapphire stuttered, "Me and my quartz are gonna be taking up a lot of room on the ship, and because of the accident I mentioned earlier, there's no way to communicate to Homeworld."

"Hmph. Maybe it's for the best," Jasper growled as she clenched a fist around the side of the bar, "I don't even know where the h*** that d*** peridot is, she could have escaped this d*** place already. And besides…" Jasper added as a dark expression grew on her face, "I got some unfinished business to deal with…." It took all Sapphires willpower not to shout at Jasper in return. Sapphire had lived through a lot on earth, and she knew how to recognize a threat when she heard one. The idea of a quartz with such great power and little temper rampaging around earth made an inky black pit of dread form within the gems stomach, but she also knew that out right defending the humans would place herself and her story under suspicion. What if someone did come for Jasper, what if word got out that a rogue sapphire was still on earth, offering her services to humans?...

…...Or worse, what is _she_ found out?...

A shiver ran down the gems spine as she chose wisely to swallow her anger and tried to prevent her hands from freezing over. She couldn't let her guard down, not with a quartz like this.

" _Just keep doing what you're doing, you can't help anyone if you're handed over."_

The Jasper gave out a loud sigh as she released the bar (which had been practically crushed from her grasp) and stood up. "Just make sure someone comes for me, alright?"

"I'll see what I can do," Sapphire replied as turned around to adjust a swirling blue picture hanging in the restaurant.

"You'll do _what you can?"_ The Jasper spat, spraying an array or spit over the bar and (and partially the gem) as she spoke, "You're a freaking Sapphire, don't give me that _I'll see what I can do_ crap! You've got enough authority to have me shipped."

"Calm down now," Sapphire sighed through clenched teeth, "While I do have a good amount of authority, you should know how valuable the cluster is to homeworld right now, and you're only one Jasper. My authority has limitations, so I'll see what I can do."

" _ **Bull-sh**!"**_ Jasper snapped in return. As the gem spoke, Sapphire was washed with a cold blast as another future vision fell upon her. This time, the gem could see a group of people entering the tavern, all of them screaming and half drunk from another bar they had been at. It wasn't uncommon for Sapphire to have people enter her tavern already fully drunk, especially not on a Saturday night, but she knew what would happen if they all came across a gem like Jasper (and what the gem would likely do in response). Jasper had already gotten on her nerves, but now she had a legitimate reason to get her to leave the bar as quickly as possible.

"Look, I'll be completely honest with you," Sapphire sighed as she turned back around, "I may be a white Sapphire, but White diamond basically put Blue in charge of this mission during a very emotional and spontaneous time, and she kept me in the dark for the most part. If you have a problem, you can contact _her,_ but if that's all you came for then you might as well leave an-"

" _Contact her?"_ Jasper cried, "I already told you my communications have been cut off!"

"Well that's not my problem," Sapphire growled, becoming more desperate to get the Jasper out of the bar, "I have my own business to deal with here and I'd really appreciate it if you left me to-"

"Then _make_ it your problem!" Jasper cried as she slammed a fist on the bar, causing a large dent to appear in the wood, "I'm not about to get trapped on this dumba** planet! Just what kinda gem do you think I am, huh?"

"Hey, this ain't your bar!" Chuck cried, suddenly catching the attention of both the gems, "Can't you tell when someone is hinting at ya to leave?"

"Chuck, keep quiet," Sapphire hissed, not wanting to let the Jasper hurt her friend.

"Yeah muck, this is between her and me, mind your own d*** business!" Jasper growled as she hovered over him. Victor placed an unsure hand on his friends shoulder in attempt to draw him back, but the man shook his hand off and glared into the ember eyes of the gem.

"I could say the same to you," He growled as he tightened his fist around an empty beer mug, "You can't just show up and act like you own the place! If she says can't help ya then she can't help ya!"

" _Chuck!"_

"Don't you back talk to me!" Jasper snapped as she took a threatening step forward, "You pathetic piece of-"

"Whoa whoa-c-calm down!" Victor stuttered, suddenly getting in between Chuck and Jasper as he spoke, "P-Please, y-your-er, g-gem…...nis?…...-he's like that with everyone, honest! Y-You don't have to waste your time with-"

"What, you think you can tell me what to do?" Jasper growled, "And what's with all this " _gem-niss_ crap? You mocking me?"

"N-No, o-of course not! I was-er-I-I d-didn't know how else to-"

"How to _what?_ Address me? I'll give you a hint," The man let out a yelp as the jasper took a step forward, bending the wood underneath her foot as she did so, " _ **Don't!**_ A little s*** like you has no place addressing someone like me!"

"A-And I get that, r-really," Victor continued to speak in a shaky voice as he attempted to reason with the quartz, "But we r-really can't help you here, w-why would we lie?"

"Well you better hope your _clarity_ here can help find a way to help me," Jasper snapped, "Cause she's the best thing I got to a connection to homeworld, and I'm not leaving until I'm satisfied!"

"Okay, I let it slide for a second, but you're really starting to get on my nerve," Chuck barked as he pushed past Victor, "You wanna get out before I drag you?"  
" _ **Chuck!"**_

"What-you drag _me?"_ Jasper laughed with a cruel smirk, "That's gotta be some kinda joke, right?"  
"Why don't you keep it up and you'll find out for yourself," Chuck growled as he took a step forward.

Sapphire didn't have to look into her future vision to know where this was going.

"Chuck," Sapphire growled as the palms of her hands began to freeze, "I'm only going to say this once: _stand down."_

"I've been 'standing down' for a bit too long, don't cha think?" Chuck spat, "And this idiot's still here! If she can't learn to mind her own d*** business then why _should_ I stand down?"

"You wanna say that to me again you little s***?" Jasper snapped as she hovered over the human before her.

Up to this point, Sapphire had been able to contain herself and her anxiety fairly well, but it was finally starting to leak out as it stirred within her like a storm threatening to break the foundation of its cage. It didn't help that she knew full well what would happen if even one drunken human walked in and found Jasper, Chucks behavior (although it wasn't ill-meant) wasn't helping her current situation. She wanted to shout at Chuck, she wanted to send him out of the bar before he got himself killed, but she feared that if she moved so much as an inch that she would erupt in furry.

" _Keep it together Fire, come on! Keep it together…"_

"C-Chuck, this is crazy, y-you've gotta stop!" Victor stuttered as he moved in front of his friend in trembling movements.

"Please! If this runt wants to get his a** beaten to a pulp, that's his business," Jasper growled, "Now get the h*** out of the way."

"Oh c-come on, w-we can talk about this, r-right?" Victor said just barely above a whimper, "W-Why waste your energy? T-There's no need-"

"I said- _get the h*** out of the way!"_ Jasper cried as her arm suddenly snapped forward and, to Sapphires horror, lifted Victor by the scruff of his shirt, "I've had enough of your d*** interference! Do you even know who I am?"

"Hey, put him down a**hole!" Seaweed cried, no longer caring about her own safety as she stood up and knocked over her seat.

"What, you want to end up like your friend too?" Jasper snapped with as her opposite hand snapped behind her back, "You idiots have to learn your d*** place!"

"Don't you dare!" Seaweed cried as she grabbed her fallen seat and began to march towards the gem, "I swear you'll regret it!"

"You're the only one who'll be regre-"

" _ **ENOUGH!"**_

Suddenly, Sapphire felt something in her snap as her voice echoed through the bar as she shot up from behind the bar and slammed her hands onto the bar top. The moment her hands met the surface of the bar, the icy cold anger that had been building up within the gem exploded and caused a long trail of ice to shoot out of her hands, run up the wall behind her, and expand into long icicles along the ceiling. In addition to this, the spiky layer of ice across the bar, along the floor and towards the gem standing only a few feet away. The frosty blast ran up Jasper and left a freezing cold shell outlined around the gems body, only stopping near the gems neck and near the tips of the her fingers of her right hand (the one that was still clinging to Victors shirt), leaving the gem almost completely covered in the Sapphires freezing ice. The stinging touch of the ice was enough to cause Jasper a shock as she dropped the man to the floor, who quickly scrambled away from the gem (as though she could still attack him). If Jasper really wanted to, she could have broken from her ice prison easily, but the attack came so swift and sudden (and by a superior nonetheless) that the mighty gem found herself frozen in her own fear. Sapphire didn't want to come to this, there was nothing she hated more than acting like she was bigger than everyone else, like she was somehow more entitled to live and breath than another organism. But if she wanted to get this upper cross gem to leave her bar and save the well being of her customers, she's have to speak her language.

" _My-dear-Jasper,"_ Sapphire spoke in long, bitter sweet words as she slowly floated the bar and willed her ice to steadily grow, "I've heard a lot about you, as I'm sure you're aware. Of all the defected, insignificant quarts who crawled out of the warm earth hundreds of years ago, you were the one flawless being to emerge without as much as a hair out of place. You're the prized gem that managed to escape the earth with some above-average-rank simply because of how much better you were than your fellow quartz. But in case you've forgotten," Sapphire growled as she came to a halt floating face to face with the now intimidated Jasper, "I'm _not_ one of your fellow quartz, am I? To even compare myself to someone like you would be an insult to the entire diamond authority. I understand that you've been under a lot of pressure as of lately, but I hope the inconvenience of your mission hasn't clouded you from the knowledge that _I am your superior,"_ Sapphires words sharply cut through the thick tension of the room like a knife, "And even if we're both stuck on this- _incompetent_ sorry excuse for a planet-it doesn't change the fact that as a Jasper, you have no right to so much as raise your voice towards me….if you were any other Jasper, your shards would have been scattered across the floor by now," Sapphire let her words die down to a cold, low tone as the ice around Jasper's neck tightened, barely allowing for the quartz to breath, and allowed the bar to remain frozen in the chilling silence for a moment.

"But…..you're an especially adequate quartz, if my memory serves me correct…..that, and you've been terribly inconvenienced in what I'm assuming should have been a short, simple task. Under these circumstances, I can understand why even a gem of your standard would act so out of sorts, it was for these very reasons that I haven't said anything up until now…..and….." As Sapphires words slowly came out in a long, calming tone, she willed her ice to thaw around the jasper at a unperturbed manner, "it is also for these very reasons…...that I'm letting you off with a warning. I understand your frustration completely, to call your situation alarming would be an understatement. So when I say that I can't help you, it's because there's simply nothing in my power to change this overbearing situation. Even so….there really is no excuse for how you were addressing me, and I would hate it if a gem of your stature had to be shattered over such petty reasons," At this point, the Jasper's icy prison had been reduced to a puddle around her feet, yet she remained still all the same, "Now that you know better….I'm sure this unfortunate issue won't come up again….but should you choose to test my patience once again, you'll find me…... _less_ forgiving then I'm choosing to be now." Sapphire could feel the Jasper's unblinking eyes boring towards her, as though her gem could fly off into splinters at any moment, "Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-Yes, my…...Clarity," Jasper stuttered, still recovering from the cold of her icy prison and the surprise of it all.

"That's all I needed to hear," Sapphire sighed as she turned her back to the gem and began to float towards the bar, "Now, I'll have to ask that you leave my bar. I have more than enough issues to deal with without your _impute,_ so unless you're absolutely desperate and willing to test your luck once again, I would highly advise you stay clear of this bar, as well as the humans associated with it. That will be all."

The deafening silence filled bar as she felt everyone's eyes-Jasper included-glued to her back as she calmly floated over the bar and adjusted one of the pictures hanging on the wall.

After what felt like a millennia, Sapphire heard the heavy footsteps of the quartz storm away from her, and eventually heard the door open and slam shut, leaving her alone with her customers.

The minute the door slammed shut, Sapphire's hand dropped limply from the frame and slammed on the counter as she let out a long, aggravated sigh, as though a burden had just been lifted from her shoulders and had left her exhausted.

"I thought she'd never leave," Sapphire groaned as she placed another hand on her forehead, "Oh geez….that could have turned out way worse…."

Sapphire hovered in mid with her back facing the bar, almost unable to move from the anxiety that had just conspired. The fact that a gem from homeworld had come to earth was bad enough as it was, but the fact that it had been that Jasper in particular made the situation all the harder to process. She hadn't seen a upper cross homeworld gem in at least a good couple of centuries, there was no reason for them to return to a planet they thought so lowly of. Why where they coming now, after all these years? Was it something to do with the cluster? Furthermore, what was the cluster to begin with? Sapphires fear multiplied hundreds of questions, she became overwhelmed with thoughts that she was almost unaware of the silence still lingered in the bar. Sapphire deduced that the customers who had witnessed the full theatrical had all been as terrified as her (if not more), not one of them had ever seen something of this magnitude conspire in her bar, and didn't know how to react afterwords. After what felt like a millennium, however, someone finally took took a breath and spoke.  
"Yo Fire?"

"...yeah?"

"What was that you were saying about there being no homeworld gems on the earth?"

"Trust me Chuck, I'm as surprised as you are."

"Yeaaaaaaaaah, somehow, I doubt that."

"Um….S-Sapphire?"

The gem recognized the anxious and fearful voice of her friend. She gave a one word response without turning around as she scrubbed at the floor with a large blue towel.

"Vic?"

"Are…...are you alright?"

" _Am I alright?"_

Sapphire let out a shaky sigh and rubbed the side of her head.

" _I'll be fine as long as she stays away."_

"Am I alright?" Sapphire asked with a slight chuckle as she turned her head toward her friend, "I wasn't the one who got held by the neck, I should be asking you."

"I-It was just my shirt, and….honestly, that's not the _worse_ thing that's ever happened to me," Victor stuttered as he adjusted the collar of his shirt uncomfortably.

"What, worse than gett'n threatened by a freaking quartz soldier!" Chuck cried in disbelief, "Just what kinda crazy life have you been living Vic?"

"A-All I mean is that….s-she didn't actually hurt me," Victor replied quickly, "I mean-it would have been a lot worse if you hadn't d-done anything."

"Yeah, you were crazy out there Fire!" Seaweed cried, "I've never seen you freeze over someone like that!"

"What, are you forgetting about the time she froze jack-a** a few years back?" Chuck asked as he glanced towards the black haired girl.

"That was different, she only froze his foot!"

"Sure, only cause it was more convenient, but she would have froze over way more if she had to! I mean did you see what she just did to that 6-foot tall soldier? Imagine what she could've done to that runt!"

"Hey, I only use these powers for emergencies," Sapphire replied as she placed a hand over the back of her neck, "I only did what I had to…that Jasper only knows one language, but hopefully she won't be crossing here anytime soon." Sapphire let out a long sigh before turning back to the puddle and continued to absorb the liquid with her towel, "Anyhow, I really appreciate you guys helping me with the mess. I haven't used my ice for anything that extreme in a while, so…...it went kinda nuts…"

"We know, we were there," Seaweed chuckled as she slide an empty bucket underneath a icicle that was taking longer to thaw than Sapphire had predicted, "Otherwise you wouldn't have closed the bar on a Saturday night."

"I still don't see why you had to close though," Chuck groaned as he chipped away at the ice gluing a chair to the floor, "A little ice never hurt anyone, and it's not like that Jasper characters gonna come back anytime soon."

"Trust me Chuck, icicles are more dangerous than some people give them credit for," Sapphire replied with a half smirk, "I'm not taking any chances. And besides, I think everyone who was here needs some time to register what happened. Things'll be back the way they were soon enough, but we can't rush the process."

"Mm, can't argue there," Chuck replied, "But it was nice of you to give that band an extra bonus."  
"It was the least I could do for them," Sapphire replied as she nodded whipped her brow and Victor came towards her with a bucket, "It's not like they knew a gem from homeworld would be showing up when I hired them."

"Well, it's not like you knew either," Victor murmured as he placed the bucket next to his friend and she wringed the towel over it, "You weren't responsible for any of this."  
"Yeah, the only one who should be apologizing is _Chuck,"_ Seaweed groaned with a quick look towards her friend, "What gave you the bright idea of threatening a _freaking quartz soldier?"_

"Well some had to do something!" Chuck barked defensively, "And it's not like you were acting any different, don't think I didn't see you marching over to her with that bar seet!"

"Only cause I was trying to defend Vic when he was being held by the _freakin neck!"_

"A-Again, it was just my shirt-"

"How is that any different from me trying to defend Fire after that gem refused to leave?"

"It's different cause Vic wouldn't have been in danger at all if you had just kept quiet!"  
"You don't know that!"

"Please!"

"Don't give me that look!"

"Guys, come on, it's over now, don't waste any good oxygen arguing over it," Sapphire chuckled as she lifted the bucket of water and began to float towards the bathroom, "The fact that you guys were both willing to get your a**s beaten to defend this place is reason enough to be grateful. You guys both showed some real character today-and you too Vic-" Sapphire added with a slight nod, "Hopefully we won't ever end up in a situation like this again, but it's nice to know I got some good friends to support me if it ever comes up."

"You can count on that," Chuck called as Sapphire passed him, "We'd fight a dozen of those quartz if it meant defending you or anyone here!"

"I don't doubt that for a second," Sapphire replied as she stopped by the doorway and turned to the three people helping her clean up he mess, "But for the record, if another homeworld gem does show up here-and I highly doubt they will-let me do the talking, alright?"  
"You don't have to tell me twice," Victor said with a nervous grin before walking towards Chuck with the intent to help him.

Sapphire allowed her bucket to calmly sway back and forth as she floated towards the bathroom and began to empty the water she'd collected into the sink. There was nothing quite like leaving a room with the knowledge that a handful of friends would be waiting for you when you returned. Almost half an hour had passed since the homeworld gem had invaded Sapphires bar, and the gem was already feeling more calm simply by the fact that she wasn't alone. She still had more than her fair share of unanswered questions, and she certainly didn't need her future vision to tell her she wouldn't be sleeping for the next few days. But the gem knew that everything had its season, and if she was patient enough, at least a handful of her questions would be resolved if she waited and paid close attention to her surroundings. It was important to stay connected to the present, to stay alert and awake before what was substantial was claimed by the past. But at the same time, one had to be open to the future and to life's sudden changes. If the original crystal gems had been consumed by their losses in the first years of the war, they never would have survived as long as they did. There were multiple times in human history where things seemed doomed to fail, the only thing that had gotten them through such dark times was their hope: the belief that a brighter future would arise, even if it was impossible to imagine.

Sapphire herself had gotten through countless moments in her life with this philosophy, even when her future vision had shown her a hopeless abyss, she had carried on all the same. She'd lived with this philosophy since the moment she'd entered the earth, she was living with it now in a time of stress, and she most likely would continue with it until the end of her days.

" _The end of my days….."_ Sapphire paused for a moment as she allowed her hand to brush across the cool brown painted wall of her bar, and remembered the time she had spent building it up from scratch. She knew that nothing built on the earth could last forever. It was simply a fact, it was the endless cycle that turned through the centuries on the earth, and whenever something on the earth crumbled to the ground, something new would rise in its place.

" _This Tavern…...it won't last forever,"_ Sapphire thought as her fingers came across a large crack within the walls, " _...but it won't die young. Not yet."_ The gem felt her familiar half-smirk grow on her face as she thought to herself, " _It won't end here, no clod from homeworld's gonna change that. This is barely the beginning."_

"Yo Fire, we're almost done here!" Chuck called from the bar, suddenly snapping the gem back to reality, "And this is thirsty work, could you fix us a couple of beers?"  
"I'm not sure what that'll do for your thirst," Sapphire laughed as she picked up the empty bucket and floated out the door, "But whatever you need's on the house."

"Oh come one Sapphire," Victor began, "You don't have to, I could always-"  
"Hey, the woman's offering us free drinks!" Chuck interrupted, "Let her do her thing, it's her bar ain't it?"  
"Sure is Chuck," Sapphire called as she floated over the bar, "You've never been more right in your life."

That being said, the gem picked up an empty mug and began to fill in her first beer.

-Epilogue-

"Aaaaaaaand cut! Beautiful job Fire, I couldn't have said it any better myself!"

"But…..you are yourself."

"I know! I never cease to amaze myself B-) "

"Right, right. So, your narcissism aside-"

"Hey!"

"-I've got a few questions regarding the last chapter of my life."

"Heh-yeah, I figured as much. Ask away!"

"Alright, I guess my first question would have to be: why did my future vision show Jasper crying about a _blue angel that ditched him for an over cooked meatball?"_

"Oh yeah, that! Um-er-I can't really tell you."

"And why not?"

"It'd be a spoiler, duh! Besides, I'm pretty sure the people reading this know what I mean."

"The who would you be spoiling?"

"You of course!"

"-_-"

"Oh come on, don't give me that look."

*sigh* "could you at least give me a hint?"

"Hmmm….I dunno…"

"Come on Nox, what if some of the people reading this don't get the reference? You shouldn't make assumptions."

"Well….I guess one small hint couldn't hurt."

"See!"

"Okay fine: It may have to something to do with the gem who was flying over Jersey City."

"What, you mean the blue girl Chuck mentioned earlier?"

"Maybe."

"Huh, I guess that makes sense. But what did she mean by over cooked meatball? Did she mean an actual meatball, or something organic…...like a huma-"

"Um-let's get on to the next question!"

"Come on Nox, you're giving me more questions that answers here."

"Didn't you just finish saying that everything has it's time?"

"Well-yeah-but that time could be now!"

"I can't, it'd be against the rules."

"But you made the rules!"

"Exactly, and I made them for a reason. Sorry Fire, but there's some lines I can't cross as an author, you'll just have to wait."

"...Fine. Can I at least get an answer to a question that won't give me spoilers?"

"I don't see why not! We've got time for one more."

"Good, cause this has been on my mind for a while. So…...do you by chance remember when you uploaded the last chapter?"

"Uh-yeah, I think so. Like-two weeks ago?"  
"Why don't you go check?"

"Sure thing, but I don't see why. It couldn't have been much further than the 15th of this mo-"

"..."

"..."

"._."

"...Do you see it now?"

"..."

"...Nox, are you listeni-"

 _ **"MY LAST UPDATE WAS SEPTEMBER 30?"**_

"29th, actually."

"-_-"

"I had to."

"Seriously though, where did the time go?"

"That was gonna be my question."

"I mean-well, it was a long chapter….."

"But was it that long? It took over 2 months…..just think about that."

"Hey, in my defense, school work takes a lot of time! That and….you know…..sleeping….and youtube…...lots of youtube actually…."

"Hm. Sounds like someone needs to work on their procrastination."

"I will! Like…...maybe tomorrow…"

*face palms*

"Welp, we've taken enough of these nice viewers time, onto the preview!"

"We're going to have a serious talk about this later."

"Off script?"

"Off script."  
"Fair enough. Now, if you would be so kind? The sooner we're done, the sooner I can finish our holiday chapter!"  
"Sure thing" *looks to the audience* "I'll see you guys in the next chapter! So probably some time in march."

"Now you're just being insulting!"

"Fine fine, some time in January…..2020."

"GET OVER HERE!"

 _ **-Flaaaaaaaaaaash!-**_

"Ho ho ho!" A voice echoed through the cold wintry night as a red velvet sleigh sore through the air over Empire City. The bearded man sitting on the sleigh let out a jolly laugh as he flew threw the cloudy sky.

"Ahhhhhhh, good old Empire city-you haven't changed a bit!" The jolly man cried as his slay flew through a jeweled sky and dipped beneath the clouds. Upon doing so, the man and his 9 reindeer flew emerged from the snowing clouds and found the snow covered city not far below.

The man hoisted on the sleigh always found himself in a childlike wonder whenever he flew over this particular city, it was often a pleasure he looked forward to each year during the season. Every time he came to the city, there was something new about it, something that hadn't existed the year prior to his last visit. Yet somehow, the city felt as familiar as it had once did a hundred years ago. He could still remember when the city was nothing more than a cluster of shops and wagons run by horses, it had seemed as though the entire city had evolved into something futuristic overnight as it continued it's never-ending evolution. Sure, certain modern life-styles made his job harder, there were always things he himself had to adapt to. Sometimes the lights from the city bothered his reindeer (when traffic lights had first been invented, the poor things had flown themselves towards every shining red light on the streets!), and now that the humans could stay awake long after the sun had set, it would be harder to go undercover in the sleepless city. But it was these very things that kept Santa's job interesting, and it was for these very reasons that his job took a very specific person to fulfill. The jolly man welcomed the new challenges that faced him each and every year, he could only imagine how dreadful it would have been if he had to repeat the same routine each year with no change whatsoever.

After a few swift and turns (and more than a fair share of close calls), the man landed on a familiar red Tavern that always remained in the same place, and more often than not, the place where he began his nightly journey.

The reign deer trotted along the familiar rooftop of the tavern and mounted off his sleigh. The man took out a small blue sack from his great red sack and climbed off the sleigh. As the man walked along the roof, he paused in front on the ledge and looked down towards the back porch with a perplexed look on his face. Normally at this time of year, the gem who lived in the tavern always left a ladder for him at the ledge of the roof, and she wasn't one to forget traditions. Perhaps this Christmas Eve had been more crowded than she anticipated, and she hadn't had the time to put it up. Lucky for him, however, not every house had a chimney, and thus knew how to climb down almost any house, Starlight Tavern included. Within moments, the man had successfully climbed down the slippery wall reached his hand towards the back door. But before he could open it, however, the door swung open from the inside, and he found someone rather unexpected on the other side.


	4. Starlight Tavern Christmas Special :D

Sapphire ran her hands against the cool, dark wooden bar in the silence of her Tavern. It wasn't often that the Sapphire found her bar so deserted in her bar, especially on a friday evening, and Sapphire found herself absorbing the peaceful silence as she swam in her thoughts.

" _8 months…..Has it really been that long?"_ Sapphire thought as she ran her hands across the self-crafted bar, " _Where has the time gone?...how is it already this long…..and when…."_ The Sapphire clung to the edge of the bar as her thoughts slowed, " _When?"_ She whispered, filling the hollow tavern with her ghostly voice, "When…..when the _**H*****_ are you gonna finish this chapter Nox?"

Sapphire cried suddenly as she-wait, what the?

"Yeah, that's right, you heard me, when's it gonna be finished?"

S-Sapphire, you can't just talk to me during the _chapter!_ You have to wait for the epilogue!  
"I've waited for long enough Nox! And it's not like there's anyone around to hear me. Besides, I don't think talking to you during the chapter is nearly as _outrageous_ as leaving an audience waiting for 8 months!"

C-Come on, it wasn't _that_ long-

"Nox, **it's August."**

I-It isn't that-

" _ **That's over half a year."**_

I know, but I-

"Let me put it like this: The last time you updated was _last. year."_

…...okay, so it's been a while.

"You _think?"_

But perfection takes time.

"That's what you said last time!"

Oh, did I? *ahem* what I _meant_ to say is…..um…...patience is a virtue?

"Yeah, and _laziness_ apparently."

Hey!

"Well, none of that matters right now. The point is that your finally here, where's the Christmas episode?"  
W-What? Sapphire, you can't be serious, it's August! Falls' right around the corner!

"Well you should have thought about that before uploading this after half a dozen months."

Hey! This wasn't a choice! It was just a series of unfortunate events!

"Wait a minute, a series of Unfortunate….have you been binge watching Netflix for 8 months straight?"

What! No!

" _Noooooooox?"_

W-What, I didn't.

"Be honest."

I-I am being honest, I…..

"..."

I…..

"..."

…

"-_-"

…..maybe.

"And you wonder why you almost failed school."

I know! **i HaVe A pRoBleM!**

"Clearly! But that's besides the point. I don't care if it's out of season, at the end of the last episode, you promised these people a Christmas special, so it's a Christmas episode they're gonna get!"

Uuuuuhhhhggggggggg, do I have to?

"Nox, this should have been done _in december,_ I'm pretty sure you have to."

You sound a lot like one of my teachers right now.

"And _you_ sound like a fanfic author whose supposed to be writing an episode…."

Ugh, fine! But how do you wanna do this? It's not like we can reverse the timeline back to the Christmas party you had last Christmas.

"Why not?"

Because it's too random! I can't just toy around with the timeline of this world, I refuse to be inconsistent!

("Says the author who takes 8 months per episode")

Would you let that go already?  
"If you finish this chapter before Halloween, I might consider it.

 _*Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh*_

"Okay, so if you don't want to mess with the timeline, couldn't you just-I don't know-retell the Christmas story?"

Hey, that's not a bad idea! You could just tell them what happened!

"Eh, I don't know, I'm not too good at retelling stuff. I mean I can predict the future and all, but it's not like I can look into the past you know?"

….

"Nox?"

….

"Uh, Nox, are you oka-"

YOU JUST GAVE ME THE BEST IDEA!

"Um, what?"

DON'T MOVE, I'LL BE RIGHT BACK!

"Wait, what are you-"

 _ **Zooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom!**_

"...well, um….that happened…"

*3 minutes later*

And I'm back!  
"I see…..and I see your not alone either."

Indeed I'm not! *ahem* ladies and gentlemen, I would like to proudly present today's special guest, Ms-

"Oh my! Your about to introduce me to the audience! How thoughtful of you Nox!"

"Padparadscha?"

Ugh, there goes my big entrance.  
"Wait, isn't she the gem from Captain Lars' crew who can see into the past?"

Yup! Sapphire, met Padparadsha, Padporadsha, meet Sapphire."

"Nox, you just spelled her name wrong in two different ways."

You try spelling her name! It's way harder than it-

"*Gasp*! Nox is about to introduce me to another Sapphire-and she runs a _tavern!_ It's very nice to meet you!"

"Likewise."

So yeah, I figured since you couldn't use your powers to relive the past that I'd find a gem who could! Padpra-er-Padapa-Ugh!- _Padaradash-_ Oh forget it! I'm calling her Paddy! I figured Paddy here could show the viewers the Christmas party you had last year, the same way you show the viewers the future in our epiloges!

"My! Nox is going to spell my name wrong in two different ways! Why does she simply not google my name, or even copy and paste the correctly spelled verizon?"

"I think it's cause she's too lazy-"

 _*ahem*_ So Sapphire, wadda ya think? (you know, about having Paddy retell the story)  
"Hm, I guess that could work…..but just to be clear, you _don't_ want to reverse the timeline in this fanfic and yet your perfectly fine with bringing in a character from the cannon show? What exactly is your logic Nox? I thought you said you didn't like being inconsist-"

"Goodness! Nox wants me to use my powers to re-enact your past Christmas! I would love to! Although I don't know why she didn't simply post the episode on Christmas, or at least in January."

"Heh, you and me both sister."

Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaay were just gonna started already! To the Christmas party!

"Alright, but to be honest, I didn't really have a "party" per say, a lot of my regulars had other plans that didn't involve hanging out in a bar on Christmas night. I had more of a get-together with a few close friends, you know? But I mean it does get a bit wild when-"

"Oh! Nox wants me to begin the episode! But of course Nox, let us start!"

"Okay so how exactly is this gonna-"

 ***-** _ **Hsaaaaaaaaaaalf!-***_

"Ho ho ho!" A voice echoed through the cold wintery night as a red velvet sleigh soared through the air over Empire City. The bearded man sitting on the sleigh let out a jolly laugh as he flew threw the cloudy sky.

"Ahhhhhhh, good old Empire city-you haven't changed a bit!" The jolly man cried as his sleigh flew through a jeweled sky and dipped beneath the clouds. Upon doing so, the man and his 9 reindeer emerged from the clouds and found the snow-covered city not far below.

The man on the sleigh always found himself in a childlike wonder whenever he flew over this particular city, it was often a pleasure he looked forward to each year during the season. Every time he came to the city, there was something new about it, something that hadn't existed the year prior to his last visit. Yet somehow, the city felt as familiar as it had once did a hundred years ago. He could still remember when the city was nothing more than a cluster of shops and wagons run by horses, it had seemed as though the entire city had evolved into something futuristic overnight as it continued its never-ending evolution. Sure, certain modern life-styles made his job harder, there were always things he had to adapt to. Sometimes the lights from the city bothered his reindeer (when traffic lights had first been invented, the poor things had flown themselves towards every shining red light in the streets!), and now that the humans could stay awake long after the sun had set, it would be harder to go undercover in the sleepless city. But it was these very things that kept Santas job interesting, and it was for these very reasons that his job took a very specific person to fulfill. The jolly man welcomed the new challenges that faced him each and every year, he could only imagine how dreadful it would have been if he had to repeat the same routine each year with no change whatsoever.

After a few swift turns (and more than a fair share of close calls), the man landed on a familiar red Tavern that always remained in the same place, and more often than not, the place where he often ended his nightly journey.

The reign deer trotted along the familiar rooftop of the tavern and the man soon took out a small blue sack from his great red sack after climbing off the sleigh. As the man walked along the roof, he paused in front of the ledge and looked down towards the back porch with a perplexed look on his face. Normally at this time of year, the gem who lived in the tavern always left a ladder for him at the ledge of the roof, and she wasn't one to forget traditions. Perhaps this Christmas Eve had been more crowded than she anticipated, and she hadn't had the time to put it up. Lucky for him, however, not every house had a chimney, and thus he knew how to climb down almost any house, Starlight Tavern included. Within moments, the man had successfully climbed down the slippery wall and found himself in front of the back door. But before he could open it, however, the door swung open from the inside, and he found someone rather unexpected standing before him.

" _SWEET GINGERBREAD WHAT IS THAT?"_

The old man nearly leapt out of his thick black boots as he stumbled away from the door. The man rubbed his eyes as he started at the sight before him and pondered if what he was seeing was real. He'd seen a lot of strange things in his time, but this certainly threw him off guard. Was it a hallucination? No, that couldn't be it, Santa knew better than to drink too much eggnog while driving his sleigh, but at the same time…..the sight before him simply couldn't be true.

The massive feline stood before the door, his entire person nearly filled the entire entrance of the tavern. His long cotton candy mane poured down the felines face as his head tilted clockwise and his two black dotted eyes slowly inspected the man before him (quite possibly wondering if the man before him was meant to serve as his Christmas dinner). And on top of all this, the lion was _pink!_ The old man had never once doubted the clarity of his eyes before then (nor did he ever question his sanity), but he simply couldn't convince himself that a large pink-taffy lion was standing before him. Even if it were a regular lion, why would he be in Starlight Tavern to begin with?

"Hey Claus, how's it going?" A familiar voice spoke from behind the lion, and for a moment Santa was afraid that the lion had already gotten to his old friend.

"S-Sapphire, is that you?" Santa cried, trying to peer over the lion's shoulders (at a 5-foot radios of course), "Is this-this _beast_ keeping you hostage? Should I get the reindeer? They have military training!"

"No thanks, I'm good, but I'm flattered by the offer," Sapphire chuckled as the lion lifted his great paw and allowed the small white and grey gem to emerge from behind him. The gem wore a dark navy blue Christmas sweater with a large white snowflake sewed in the center. Her cloudy white hair was put in a lazy but casual bun as the gem walked barefoot in the snow. Santa sighed upon seeing his old friend unharmed, but was still rather uneasy by the large feline stationed behind her.

"Well, alright then," the man sighed, "If that thing isn't keeping you hostage-then-um, what exactly is it doing here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Sapphire laughed as she scratched the lions head (notably avoiding the mane) and causing a large pure to vibrate the air around them, "Taffy just sort of shows up here whenever he wants, there's no way of telling when he'll decide to show up. Not even my future vision can detect it." Sapphire gave a small shrug as she looked back towards her friend, "Cats are kinda spontaneous like that, you know?"

"Uh-huh, I see," Santa said, still uneasy by the strange lion, "So, I'm assuming he's safe to be around?"

"More or less," Fire replied with a shrug, "I've never seen him eat anyone, and I don't think he's ever had the motive to either. I mean, I can't promise you anything," Sapphire added with a mischievous smile, "If you wanna come in for a drink, I guess you'll just have to test your luck." Sapphire waved to her old friend as the lion turned around and returned to the warmth of the bar inside.

"So…...let me get this straight," The man began, his feet still stationed in the ground, "A giant-pink-lion-randomly shows up at your bar at any time for no apparent reason?"

"Pretty much," Sapphire replied with a half-grin, "And here I am talking to an over 1,000-year-old human who spies on children and breaks into their houses to bribe them once a year by riding a sleigh driven by 8 magical reindeer."

"Hey, that's a completely different concept!" Santa stuttered defensively, "And it's _9_ now, so…."

"Hmmmmm, not so sure about that," Sapphire sighed, "And might I remind you that you're talking to a hologram of a magical rock designed to see the future who decided to open and run a bar in the 13th century? We live in a weird world Claus, I mean you've seen beach city haven't you?"

The friend's conversation was suddenly interrupted by a loud comosion coming from the inside of the tavern.

"Ah geez, not again Roy!"

"Roy, _don't do it-"_

"I'm gonna do it!"

"Roy seriously, _do not touch his mane!"_

"Yo Fire, he's doing it again!"

"Guys you're being ridiculous!"

" _DUDE: DON'T PET HIS MANE! YOU KNOW HE DOESN'T LIKE THAT!"_

"Oh come on, he's gotten used to me by now! What's the worst that could ha-"

 _ **ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAR!**_

" _ **OH S***!"**_

Sapphire gave a small laugh as she turned around and floated towards the sound of the roar, not even bothering to close the door as she did so.

"You coming Claus?" She called back (although she thought she already knew the answer).

The old man stood there for a moment, still trying to process what he'd just seen. A part of him didn't want to follow Fire into a bar with a lion (regardless of his color), even with his friends reassurance. Unlike , Santa had never been much of a cat person, and lions were certainly no exception. But on the other hand, the man had grown tired after a long night of present giving around the world, his sack was practically empty, and he rarely was able to see his old friend outside of Christmas Eve. And if she wanted to keep her spot on his nice list, he doubted Sapphire would allow him to be consumed by a giant pink lion on Christmas Eve (technically it was already Christmas since it was past midnight, but it was basically the same difference). And she _did_ have a point, it wasn't like he could exactly himself normal.

 _Ah what the heck!_ Santa thought as he disappeared behind the back doors of the tavern. The man didn't have future vision like his friend, but he had lived with this gem long enough to know that there's rarely a dull hour within her tavern, especially around that time of the year. And no matter how many years went by, she always managed to surprise him.

" _ **HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALP!"**_

"I told you he wouldn't like that."

"Should've listened Roy, now it's too late."

" _Guys…..seriously…..can't…...breath….."_

"Hey guys, should we…...do something? He looks kinda pale."

"Nothing we can do now."

"Yup, he belongs to the lion now."

 _Ah geez, what did Roy do this time?_ Sapphire wondered as she entered the bar. As soon as she entered the dimly lit room, it wasn't hard to deduce what had happened.

"Yo fire, you came in just in time!" Chuck called as he waved an arm towards his friend, "I was starting to think I'd never get my refill!"

"Same here!" Tom called as he shook an empty mug, "I'm dying of thirst here! Can't let a fella die on Christmas Eve can you?"

"Technically it's already Christmas," Sapphire chuckled as she floated over the bar, "It's after midnight. But refills aside, are we just gonna ignore Roys…...situation?" Sapphire waved a cloudy grey hand towards the bulkish man lying on the floor, pinned to the wooden ground by the large feline as he calmly licked his paw while the man beneath him struggled to free himself in vain, "Lemme guess, you touched his mane again, didn't you?"

" _I….didn't think…..he'd…...mind!"_ Roy gasped as he struggled to reach a paw pinned to his back.

"Dude, he always minds!" Seaweed cried, "I mean he's never _sat_ on you before but you know he's sensitive about his mane!"

"Sweet gingerbread!" A voice cried, drawing the attention of sapphires customers to the stranger emerging from the back hallway. The man who emerged from the hallway wore a dark-chocolate leather jacket, a cream white shirt that blended in with his cloudy beared, and despite the cold weather, blue ripped jeans that poured over his black leather boots. Coincidentally, the small tavern was filled with the aroma of mint candy canes and hot gingerbread the minute the man stepped into the room, as though the aroma were coming off of the mysterious stranger.

"Sapphire, I thought you said he was safe to be around!" The man complained as he stared at the great feline in horror.

"I said he was _more or less_ harmless," Sapphire retaliated, "I can't promise anything. And besides, it sounds like Roy here knew what he was getting himself into when he touched his mane."

"Yeaaaaaa, our feline friends a bit sensitive around the mane," Seaweed chuckled as she took a swing from her beverage, "My theory: It's a cotton candy mane, and he's afraid it'll dissolve if we get too close."

"Come on, you can't be serious!" one of the men cried, "You really think that mane's cotton candy?"

"Hey, that ain't the craziest s*** that's happened this year," Chuck retaliated, "I mean he's a _pink lion_ , who's to say what can't be real?"

"Yeah but then why doesn't he just eat it?"

"Cats hate sweet food! Have you ever seen a feline eating ice cream?"

"Woah woah woah, slow down," ̶S̶a̶n̶t̶a̶ The stranger announced as he stormed towards the gang sitting around the bar, "If you guys are debating whether or not our feline friends mane is made out of candy, I'm your man."

"Oh geez," Sapphire groaned with a nervous smile, "Listen, I don't think Roys gonna last long enough for one of your candy lectures."

"Nonsense! First of all, there are various variables that go into the preservation of cotton candy that one must consider when determining the substance of a magical lions mane," The man started, grabbing the attention of the small crowd sitting around the bar (even the lion seemed interested in the mans lecture), "On one hand the color our lion's mane more or less matches standardized cotton candy color of a lavender shade of pink, so at first glance it would seem conceivable that it's made out of cotton candy. But, on the other hand, cotton candy is an incredibly complex and fragile substance, and it'll melt in less than 20 minutes after being taken out of its packaging. So unless our feline friend has biological and or magical methods of regulating the humidity, temperature, and vibration of either his mane or the air around it every 10 minutes, then it simply wouldn't be scientifically possible for the mane to be made out of this sugary substance."

"Wait wait, go back to the part about the mane color," a girl with short black hair looked up from a notepad and flung her free hand in the air as though she were a student taking notes in a class, "Would you say lion's mane is a lemonade or a blush?"

"Malisa, are you taking notes?" Chuck spat in disbelief.

"What, and your not?" Nicolas asked as he looked up from his laptop, "We're talking about a magical pink lion having a cotton candy mane! This is the only thing in my life worth taking notes on!"

"Exactly Nicolas," The stranger exclaimed, "And as for your question Malisa: Definitely lemonade, although if I had to choose a shade other than the two you mentioned then I'd definitely classify his mane as more of a lavender shade. _Now,_ another variable that we can identify the material of our lion's mane is the _sent-"_

"Okay, as interesting as this lecture is, do you think we can take a brief intermission to move Taffy off Roy before he becomes a blueberry pancake?" Nicolas asked as he shut his laptop (much to Roy's relief).

"Sure, assuming we can get Taffy here to move," Sapphire sighed as she floated over to the giant cat, "How you doing down there Roy?"  
"How…..does it…. _look?"_ Roy groaned, barely lacing a thread of sarcasm into his words as he spoke.

"Hm, looks like I'll have one less beer to serve tonight if you stay under there for too long," Sapphire sighed, "So, how do you guys propose we should get him off? Any thoughts?"

A ripple of muffled whispering filled the bar as the sapphires customers looked towards one another, none of them seemed particularly anxious to think up of something. The white sapphire felt a small smirk grow on her face as she listened to the confused muttering and slowly floated back to her station behind her bar. She knew these humans were smarter than they gave themselves credit for, they simply needed the proper motivation to get them working.

"Alright, let's make this interesting," Sapphire slid a dusty white hand under the bar and emerged clutching the handle of an old rusting bucked with the words "betting bucket" written in chipped black paint, "You all know the drill: Everyone places 5 bucks in the betting bucket, and whoever gets the lion off of our soon-to-be-pancake friend gets all the winnings. Do I have any participants?"

Almost everyone in the bars hand (including Roys) flew in the air like a slacking student who knew the answer to a question for the first time in his life.

"Heh, that's more like it," Sapphire chuckled as she floated over the bar towards her participants with the bucket still clutched in her hand, "Alright boys: whose first?"

"GET! GET ON OUTA HERE!"

"Seriously Scott? If squirting him with a spray bottle really bothered Taffy then he would've moved like 7 minutes ago instead of licking it."

"Trust me Seaweed, this always works with my cats-and even a few racoons! SHOO! SCAT! SCAAAAAAT!"

"Scott, you're not going to get anywhere with that, lemme show you how a _real_ man does it."

"BAD KITTY! BAD! GET OFF THE NICE MAN!"

"Yo, Joe, I'm not a cat whisperer but something tells me Taffys not gonna appreciate you waking him on the head with a broomstick."

"I'm with Chuck on this one Joe, something about his face says " _I'm about to sit on you next if you don't cut it out."_

"That's' good! That means it's working, he'll get up any minute! BAD KITTY! BAD! GET OFF! IF YOU DON'T GET UP I SWEAR I'LL-"

" _ **CHOMP!"**_

"..."

"..."

"Um-Fire-you're gonna need a new broom…"

"JUST DO IT! MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE! GET OFF YOUR HUMAN BEAN-BAG CHAIR AND REDEFINE YOURSELF!"

"Not that I don't appreciate the enthusiasm, but I don't think a motivating speech is gonna cut it Frank."

"Oh come on Fire, how else am I supposed to motivate him?"

"I've got an idea!"

"IT'S TIME TO STOP!"

"Seriously? You're resorting to memes?"

"What's the matter with you Nick? I thought you'd appreciate the power of the internet! You're a teen after all!"

"Not all teenagers are into the same….. _*ahem*..._ entertainment."

"Nonsense! Everyone loves a good meme! It's the only thing that can get me up in the morning, I'm sure it'll be enough to get our sentient lion to stand! COME ON EVERYONE, ATTACK HIM WITH MEMES!"

"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Oh no please don't-"

"COME AWN!"  
"Sho me your movez!"

"NANI?"  
"SHOOOOUUUUUUUUUTTTTOOOOOOOOO!"

"Like Zoinks man!"

"I like em big, I like em-"  
" _NO! NOT MOTO MOTO! Absolutely NOT!"_

"How about big chungus? :3"

"WHEN WILL YOU LEARN? WHEN WILL YOU LEARN THAT YOUR ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES?

"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA BOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

* ½ hours of memeing and other methods later *

"Okay, guys, please don't take this personally, but you kinda suck at this," Sapphire sighed as everyone sat around the bar in defeat. "I'm surprised Roy hasn't sufficated yet."

"What can I say, that boy's got lungs of steal," Chuck said as he slammed his empty beer mug on the bar, "But he's probably got about 2 hours left before he finally passes out."

" _You…..guys….are….the…worst,"_ Roy gasped between breaths (it was a miracle they could hear him over the lions snoring).

"Hey, it ain't like we put him to sleep _on purpose,"_ Tom spat, "How were we supposed to know he'd get tired out by memes?"

"And airhorns."

"And reindeer."

"Yeah seriously, where'd that come from?"

"Where indeed," Sapphire asked with a small glance towards the stranger sitting at the edge of the bar, "Well, you guys better think of something soon if you still want a chance at earning your money back," Sapphire said mockingly as she lifted her bucket teasingly, "You all know the drill: If you all fail, all the earnings go to me."

"Hmph, I still think that's kinda selfish of ya fire," Seaweed grumbled, "Can't we just get our money back?"  
"Hey, my Bar my rules," Sapphire retorted, "And have you _seen_ your tab? I'd say I'm more than generous with you guys."

"You know what? I didn't want it to come to this, but desperate times call for desperate measures," Chuck sighed as he arose from his set, "I'm gonna get the catnip!"  
"Wait, you're going to buy catnip?" Nicolas asked, "At 4 am…..on Christmas (technically)?"

"Kid, I raise feral cats for a living, I've got that stuff stashed all over this city," Chuck called as he made way for the door, "If anything'll move that cat, it's _catnip._ Honestly, I probably should've gotten that stuff an hour ago! Be back in a bit."

"Kay, we'll keep your set warm," Sapphire called as the man exited the small bar.

"So, do you have a name or what," Nicolas said to Sapphire's friend (who was currently drinking a mug of eggnog), "And how do you know so much about candy?"

"Oh-um-I guess you can say I work with all types of candy," The stranger replied, "Peppermints, chocolates, gum, you name it! It's apart of my life's work."

"Oh yea? And just what is your life's work?" Tom asked as he sat next to the stranger (as though the two of them were old friends), "I wouldn't mind getting in on that action, being surrounded by sweets and whatnot, it beats working at the audible shop, that's for sure!"

"Oh-er-it takes a very particular type of person," ̶S̶a̶n̶t̶a̶ the stranger muttered as he cleared his throat nervously, "besides, it's out of this state, so unless you wanna move-"

"Ah, never mind then," Tom sighed as he turned around on his set and leaned against the bar, "I couldn't leave the city, it'd be like trying to part with the back of my hand."

"Um, I think you're using that saying wrong," Nicolas chuckled as he pulled out a straw from a nearby cup, "And speak for yourself, I'm getting out of here the first chance I get."

"What, you don't like it here son?" Atticus asked (who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere).

"No, there's nothing wrong with the city itself, I just wanna live somewhere by myself," Nicolas sighed, "My family's kinda…...difficult to put up with. Why else do you think I'm here at this time of night-or-morning, whatever."

"I hear you pal," Malisa sighed as she raised her head from her book for the first time that day, "I know that family can be tough sometimes."

"Mmmhmmm, but honestly, you don't have to be related to someone to wanna run away from them," Tom sighed, "I've had to deal with my fair share of wakos!"

"Oooooooh, you wouldn't be referring to that girl from Jersey City, would you?" Sapphire asked, "She whose name will not be spoken?"

"I will neither confirm nor deny your claim," Tom retaliated, "The point is Nick, there's plenty of us who ain't spending Christmas with our family this year. I just couldn't afford a trip to Australia this year, but you always got a family to spend the holidays with right here."

"That was surprisingly mature of you Tom," Seaweed called while Nicolas got up from his set with a beer in one hand and a straw in the other, "But you're not wrong kid. I've spent the last 3 Christmas' here, last year my folks even surprised me with a visit!"

"Wow, I had no idea," Nicolas chuckled nervously as he put the straw in the beer and placed it next to a grateful Roy, "I-I kinda wish I knew about this place sooner….."

"Hey, better late than never, right?" Sapphire replied as she filled a mug of hot apple cider, "How's the bear treating you Roy?"

The man (who was somehow able to drink while being sat on by a lion) simply raised a thumbs up from the floor, not bothering to stop drinking his beverage to answer.

"Hey, what about you Sapphire?" Nicolas asked, "Don't you have anywhere to be during the holidays?"

"Eh, not really," Sapphire replied with a shrug, "I've got a few good gem friends from way back when, but most of them are scattered across the globe. Heck, I don't even know where most of them are now, so I tend to stay here with all my human buddies instead."

"Exactly! Besides, who else is supposed to serve us beer and eggnog at this time of night?" Seaweed exclaimed, "But seriously Fire, you could drag one of your gem pals down here sometime, like that gem from Scotland for instance."

"I bet you guys would get along handsomely," Sapphire chuckled as she cooled off her apple cider, "I guess we'll see what the future holds."

"Cheers to that," Nicolas called before turning back to Roy and his empty beer mug, "You want me to get you another?"

" _...please…."_ He gasped with a nod.

"Sure thing bud," Nicolas chuckled as he rose to his feet with the empty mug, "And don't worry, I'm sure the lion'll get bored of you eventually. It's only a matter of-"

 _ **BAM!**_

Everyone nearly jumped out of their sets as the wooden door flew open and crashed against the wall and Chuck rushed inside. As soon as he entered, he quickly slammed the door shut and leaned his back against it. The man's eyes were lit with panic and fear as he breathed in heavy pants against the door. Everyone started at the man in shock, not sure what could've gotten a man with his demeanor so riled up.  
"Chuck, you alright?" Tom asked as he cautiously rose from his set.

"What, did you commit a crime?" Seaweed cried, "You look like you've seen a ghost!"

Chucks fiery eyes remained glued to the gem floating behind the bar as though his very life depended on it while he caught his breath.

"There were two of them," He gasped, "I-I don't know if they were good or not, b-but I saw them both and they were heading this way! Should we barricade the door or we could just turn off the lights and pretend no ones home or have the lion guard the door I mean do you think he'd do that for us I mean he is your friend Fire so I wouldn't be surprised if he'd-"

"Woah woah, calm down Chuck," Sapphire said as she floated over the bar and approached her panicked friend, "Who did you see coming?"

"Okay, just-hold on a seck," Chuck closed his eyes and took a deep breath while everyone watched in anticipation. Once he redirected his focus to Sapphire, he seemed at least slightly calmer. "Okay, Sapphire, are there _any_ gems other than yourself living in this city?" Chuck asked, "O-Or at least…..near the city, maybe?"

Sapphire felt an icy hand clutch her heart as her friend spoke. Suddenly the mans panicked state made sense to her as she pondered the possibility of the homeworld gem resurfacing so quickly after she'd left.

"...Chuck, did you see another gem?" Sapphires squeezed her hands into two icy fists as she spoke slowly, "You remember the jasper, did she look anything like her?"

"They were in the dark, I-I couldn't tell," Chuck stuttered, "But the skinner one had a gem on her back, and the other one looked big enough to be a Jasper, and she was holding something in her hand too."

"W-Wait, are you guys talking about that homeworld gem again?" Seaweed asked as she rose from her set, "She's outside _right now?"_

"H-Hold on, what are you guys talking about?" Nicolas asked with a thread of panic in his voice.

"A gem showed up here a few weeks back," Tom growled as he grabbed a nearby stool, "Lets just say she wasn't too friendly toward us, or this d*** planet for that matter. Fire outranks her in their home planet so she was able to scare her off, but it looks like she didn't get the message. I say we fight em off!"

" _ **No!"**_ Sapphire and Chuck both cried at once.

"Trust me Tom, this is _not_ a gem you wanna mess with," Sapphire said with urgency, "This quartz is a legend from Home World, she's made up of some tough s***."

"B-But you out rank her, r-right?" Nicolas asked as he slowly backed against the bar, "I mean, you scared her off last time, h-how bad can she really be?"

"Yeah Fire!" Seaweed cried with a spark of hope ignited her words, "You froze her last time didn't cha? You could wipe the floor with that gem!"

"Seaweed, it's not that simple," Sapphire retaliated, "I only outrank her because of my future vision, last time she didn't fight back because I threatened to report her to the authorities. But if shes coming back now, she might know…." Sapphire took a shaky breath as she tries to ignore the pit of panic forming in her stomach, "she might know that I betrayed Home World, which means-"

"Which means we can't take any chances," A broad man whose fiery red hair matched the adrenalin in his eyes, "If that gem wants to drag you off to your home planet or whatever, she's gonna have to go through us!"  
"I'm with ya Scott," A man with tan skin and wavy blonde hair snapped as he grabbed a-not-so-empty-wine-bottle, "I don't care if their made of diamonds! There's only two of them against a dozen of us!"

"Guys, _**no,"**_ Sapphire snapped, "You all have to leave _**now!**_ I'm not risking your lives! You have nothing to do with this gem crap, alright? Everyone, go to the back and let me handle our _guests_."

"Sapphire, there's no way in h*** we're just gonna leave you here with those gems!" Seaweed retaliated.

"I'm with Seaweed, we can't just abandon you Fire!"

"Guys, I think Fire knows more about what's going on than anyone else here," Chuck snapped, "We have to follow her lead."

"What, your saying we just _leave her here?"_

"And you don't think she knows her own strength? I think Sapphire knows what she can handle."

"Well _clearly_ she doesn't if she thinks she can take on that freaking gem! Seriously Joe, you weren't there last time, that quartz was huge!"

At this point, everyone in Starlight Tavern (except for the massive lion) ignited in flames of panic as everyone debated what to do and whether to follow Sapphires lead or not. At this point, Sapphire felt her feet slowly sink to the floor, as though her horrible anxiety in her gut was weighing her to the ground like an anchor. Things were way beyond her control at this point, the shocking reappearance of the homeworld gem combined with the gangs fear and spontaneous actions left them divided. Across the room, Sapphire could hear Chuck arguing with Tom as he tried to pry the stool from his hands. Nicolas, who looked ready to faint at the drop of a pin, desperately tried to push Taffy (who was alarming calm amongst the chaos) off of the poor man pinned beneath him while Scott attempted to see past his own reflection in the window to see the whereabouts of the intruders.

There was too much noise.

There was too much chaos.

Sapphire couldn't control it all, or at least not before the two gems appeared.

This wasn't another bar fight or a small dispute, this could be a matter of life or death. If that Jasper had any reason to believe that the humans in the bar were associated with her, a treacherous, lower-than-the-dirt-she-floated-over traitor, their fates would be sealed before any of them could so much as blink. They had to leave, they couldn't be there when they gems got there, but she couldn't force them all to leave, not before they entered the bar. And even assuming she could accomplish such a feat, the gems probably could've heard their mindless bickering from over a block away. Panic filled the gems lungs and filled her throat like cotton. She wanted to scream, but no words could surpass her lips. She could feel the tips of her fingers grow numb as ice bleed from her bare feet and crawled away from its source. The world around Sapphire became delirious and numb, she could feel her mind slipping further away with every thought….

 _No, not now! Keep it together Fire, you can't lose yourself now, you have to think of something!_

Try as she might, Sapphire simply couldn't organize her thoughts into a plan to carry out her objective. Fear smudged the gems thoughts and clouded her judgment. The gems could emerge at any minute, every second that dripped by was a step closer to their-

Suddenly, a hand clasped on sapphires shoulder, breaking a thin layer of ice that had slowly been forming over it. Sapphire broke out or her trance as she grasped the human hand that had broken her trance and brought her back to reality. Sapphire was normally a level headed gem, but at her core, she was a Sapphire, a creature handcrafted to predict and know the future. There was a time in her life where she thought she knew every aspect and detail of her life, she wasn't built to take the unexpected lightly. Sure, she could handle a large majority of earth's randomness after years of exposure and practice, but when something truly shocking surfaced in Sapphire's life, she would begin to slip away from reality as her gem began to freeze, as if the diamonds who had crafted her had built in a self destruct feature in the event where their sapphire failed to carry out her task.

The gem was simply grateful to have been snapped out of her delirious trance by her old and dear friend. The man gave Sapphire a short nod, his eyes shining with a calmness and clarity that could fill an empty home with the spirit of Christmas in an instant. Once he was sure Sapphire was safe, the man stood on a nearby stool and cupped his gloved hands around his mouth.

"Guys, _calm down!"_ The stranger's words echoed across the walls and somehow rang louder than the cluster of voices filling the room, "This arguing is not going to get us anywhere! We won't stand a chance against those-er-invaders if we aren't all on the same side! And besides, for all we know, there might not even _be_ any gems outside! Just think: Sapphire didn't see this in her future vision, right? And Chuck, you saw those gems from a distance, and in the dark nonetheless! How can you even be sure what you saw was a-"

While the man was still speaking, the door suddenly began to open, and half of the residents within the room braced themselves for a fight while the other half lunged behind turned tables and the pink lion for fortitude. To their surprise, the door opened less forcefully than the Jasper had when she first appeared. All eyes glued to the door as a large, jasper-sized silhouette entered the small tavern. Half of the bar held their breath in anticipation, while the other half stared in confusion. The large gem was big enough to be a quartz, but she looked nothing like the jasper who came in.

In contrast with the loose, stormy white hair of the previous jasper, this quartz long raven hair ran down her left warm sepia shoulder in a messy braid. She wore a marigold halter top underneath her black leather jacket, as well as a pair of worn-out navy-blue jeans and black leather boots. The minute she stepped into the tavern, she lifted a cardboard box with a handle like she owned the place.

" _Dō shita no!"_ She cried with a wide grin, as though nothing were amiss. It didn't take long for her to notice the looks on everyone's faces shortly after she came in. The gems sunset eyes scanned the small party of humans with a mixture of confusion and amusement, "What, was it something I said? You guys look like your ready for a homeworld invasion," The gem chuckled in an attempt to break the heavy tension in the room.

"You probably scared them half to death with that entrance," A voice dripping with annoyance said before a pale olive face with long autumn hair popped behind the larger gems shoulder, "That guy from the last restaurant practically fainted when you barged in last time. Are you even sure this is the right place, ' _Kenjin?'"_

"Come on Copper, you and I both know that guy was just intimidated my naturally good looks," The quartz said with a snort and a dramatic hair flip, "And besides, Fire said her bar or whatever was Starlight Tavern! I know my english is a bit faulty but I'm pretty sure I know what I'm-"

The two gems discussion was suddenly cut to a stop as the small sapphire hurled herself towards the two unsuspecting gems. At first glance, it looked like she was attacking the intruding gem, but soon after she had done so, the three gems erupted in laughter as the large quartz swung her companion and the sapphire around in her arms.

" _GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRLS!"_ The sapphire squealed from the top of her lungs, "It's been _AGES!"_

" _Oh sapphire, it's been too long! You haven't changed a bit!"  
_ " _And you haven't grown any taller either! Do you know how many 10 year old's I've mistaken you for?"_

It was needless to say that everyone in the bar was beyond confused, especially those who hadn't seen Jasper before.

"Er-guys-" Nicolas stutterd as his head popped up from behind now awake lion, "I thought you said that Jasper was like-evil, or at least hostile, or something….."

"Um-no, that's…..not Jasper," Seaweed confirmed, "She looked a lot different than, well, her."

"So wait, that's _not_ Jasper?" Tom asked in utter confusion, "Well then what the h*** am I holding this thing for?" he cried as he carelessly dropped the stool next to him.

"Thank goodness I didn't have to pull out the reindeer," Not-Santa muttered as he quietly put away his walkie-talkie.

"Meh, I'm just glad I'm not kicking the bucket," Atticus sighed as he sat down at a small table, "I'm far to young and beautiful to leave this world."

"Wait, guys, lets not ease up too easily," Chuck said, still rattled up by the threat of Jasper resurfacing, "Gems can change their form, can't they? How do we know this isn't Jasper?"

"Woah woah, did you just call me a Jasper?" The larger gem cackled, catching the attention of everyone in the room as she placed the two gems down and examined the worried look on the man's face, "Don't worry pal, I'm not one of homeworlds pawns if that's what you're worried about, and I'm no Jasper either." The gem took off her leather jacket and turned around as she jabbed a finger towards the heart-shaped gem in her back (a star-shaped hole was cut from the back of her halter so they could see the brown and orange gem), "I'm 100% tiger eye!"

"Guys, you don't have to worry," Sapphire said as she grinned ear to ear and floated between the two gems, "These are two of my friends, Tiger Eye and Copper Pearl, we met ages ago somewhere in Rio, and it's been _decades_ since we've seen each other," Sapphire added, still exploding with joy upon seeing her old friends, "What are you guys doing here?"

"Let's just say we were in the neighborhood and thought we'd pay you a visit," Tiger Eye explained as Sapphire causally sat on her friends shoulder.

"That would be putting it mildly," Copper chuckled as she leaned against the wall. The pearl was wearing a snow white collared shirt with long, flowing sleeves as well as a brown jacket that matched the color of her autumn hair wrapped around her waist. In addition to this, the gem also wore pumpkin-brown pants as well as chocolate brown flats that blended in with the dark wood that made up the floor.

"But yeah, we figured we'd check out the tavern you mentioned last time we saw you," The gem continued with a tired smile as her eyes lazily flowed through the crowds of people looking at her in awe, "We could really use a break after what we just went through. If you want the details we could tell you over a bottle of-" the gem cut herself off as her eyes came to a stop and widdend upon seeing something. "Um, is that a…..pink lion?"

Everyone's gaze turned towards the large feline as they remembered their prior crisis.

"Woah, it is!" Tiger Eye cried as she bent down to get a better look, "Saph, you didn't mention anything about a mascot!"

"Oh, he's not mine," Sapphire chuckled, "He just sorta shows up here every now and then. I'm pretty sure he just goes wherever he wants."  
"Ha, I like this guys style," The quartz said with a wide grin as she scratched the lions head before her eyes dropped to the floor like rocks, "Woah, there's a dude under their!"

"Oh yea, I forgot you were under their Roy," Sapphire said as she placed a hand over her neck, "How're you holding up?"

"Again, I ask:... _ **How…..do you…...think?"**_

"Um, how long has he been under their?" Copper asked, her voice laced with concern as she knelt down to get a better look at the lions captive.

"Over 30 minutes," Seaweed sighed as she joined the pearl, "And counting."

"Geez, he's got lungs of steal," Tiger Eye observed, "Have you guys considered-I don't know- _freeing him?"_

"HA! Easier said than done," Chuck cried as he stood next to the gem, "We've tried everything, that lion just won't move until he's ready."

"Define everything," The quartz said as she crossed her arms with a raised eyebrow.

Immediately the bar erupted with noise as everyone stated the failed methods they used to release their friend.

"We sprayed him with water-"  
"-we whacked him with a broom-"

"-we tempted him with food-

"-we attacked him with pure pressure-

"-we tried to scare him with airhorns-

"-and pots and pans-"  
"-and reindeer-"  
"-(Still not sure where the reindeer came from)-"

"-and reddit posts-"

"-and choosing a good college-"

"-and winning his dads love-"  
"-and Tom's horrific fanfics-"  
"-without _my consent!-"_

"-we attacked him with memes-"  
"-Oh yeah, so many memes!-"

"-It was beautiful-"

"-H*** yeah it was!-"

"-But not effective."  
"Oh no, not effective."

"Not at all."

"He didn't move an inch."

"Not an inch."

"I never said they were the brightest bunch," Sapphire chuckled (while receiving numerous glares).

"Hey, at least they tried," Copper pointed out, "They certainly are-creative?"

"Ha! See, she gets it! Why can't you Fire?"

"Yeah Fire, cut us a bit of slack!"

"Have you guys tried moving him?" Tiger Eye asked as she looked around.

"Yeah we tried moving him!" Chuck cried, "But we just can't get him to move!"

"No, I mean literally _moving him._ It doesn't look like this guys gonna move on his own," She chuckled as she nudged the lion with her foot.

"Look, I'm flattered they you think we're all strong enough to push over 500 pounds of lion off our friend, but you'd have to be inhumane to do that," Seaweed sighed (towards the non-human), "Our best chance is to wait for the big guy to leave on his own."

"Exactly," Chuck added, "You'd have to be a titan to move that thing from…...his….."

While chuck was still talking, the quartz gem took the abnormally large lion from the scuff of his neck and lifted him off the ground like he was a sack of feathers. Roy gasped as his lungs filled with fresh air in what seemed the first time in eons while the gem placed the lion down next to him without causing the feline to so much as protest. The gem couldn't help but laugh at the awed expressions of everyone in the bar after she managed to accomplish their goal in less than 30 seconds after it had taken them longer than 30 minutes.

"What, you guys have never seen a quartz before?" She chuckled as she mockingly flexed an arm.

"Well, a few of us have, but your the first we've met who _doesn't_ use her strength to hold people in a choke hold," Chuck said enthusiastically, "That was pretty d*** impressive!"

"I…...owe you my life…." Roy gasped as he reached for his gem savior.

"Oh please, don't be overly dramatic Roy," Seaweed chuckled, "You look fine to me! I mean sure you're a bit winded (and you might be pale enough to make a vampire look like David Hasselhoff), but you'll live!"

"Yeah, and I was the one fueling ou with beers all that time," Nicolas added, "where's my tip?"

"Aw, it was nothing dude," Tiger eye said with a smirk as she took the man's hand and helped him to his feet, "Just helping a friend of a friend."

"But, what was that about a quartz holding someone at a choke hold?" Copper asked, still remembering how some of the bar members had looked at Tiger Eye before they knew who she was.

"Oh yeah, we sorta had a Jasper-incident a few weeks back," Sapphire sighed as she pulled a stool for Roy to sit on, "I sorta scarred everyone-emotionally-fun times! I could tell you guys about it over a beer," She added, as she nodded towards her bar.

"I can do you one better Fire," Tiger eye said as she opened the cardboard box she came in with, "We came bearing gifts in the spirit of Christmas!" She added as she held a wine-shaped bottle full of a pale liquid.

"Is this…...Japanese Rice wine?" Chuck asked as he gazed into the seemingly bottomless box of Sake, "I haven't had that stuff in years!"

"Well you're in luck my friend, we've got some to spare," Tiger chuckled as she tossed the man a bottle."

"Okay, sorry Fire, but I have a new favorite gem," Chuck grinned as he opened the bottle and took a large swing.

"Chuck, I didn't know your affections could be bought so easily," Seaweed chuckled, "Especially not for….er, what'd ya say, rice wine?"

"Well technically it's a type of beer," Sapphire explained as she handed a bottle to her friend, "It's Japan's National Beverage, and unlike what was displayed by our _barberic_ friend, you usually don't drink it straight from the bottle," She added as she floated over the bar to retrieve a few small glasses, "I don't have any sakazuki on me at the moment, how about we drink them from a few shot glasses?"

"As long as we're drinking it," Tiger eye called as she sat next to Roy in a small table.

"Maybe we could get some eggnog for those of us who can't drink?" Nicolas asked as the copper pearl took a set next to her quartz friend.

"Sure thing," Sapphire called as she floated towards a door near the end of the bar, "I just gotta get some eggs and stuff from the back. You guys can start on the Sake without me though."

"Way ahead of you fire," Chuck called as poured some sake into a small shot glass, "So, Tiger Eye, what brings you to this side of town?"

"Well, it's kinda a long story," The quartz chuckled as she took a glass full of Sake, "It all started with a corrupted tourmaline raiding a donut shop…"

"Geez Sapphire, I wasn't expecting those two to come here," Claus chuckled as he followed his friend into the small kitchen, "It's been ages since I've seen those two! I wish I knew they were coming, I would've brought them something."

"You and me both Claus," Sapphire chuckled as she pulled a dozen eggs from her fridge, "I'm just glad it was them and not Jasper! I mean I know your reindeers have military training, but I think they would've blown your cover."  
"I don't care if she's not from earth, she's making the naughty list this year," Santa chuckled as he reached over sapphires shoulder and pulled out the milk, "Anywho, I think I'll help you out with the eggnog and pass them out, but I really should head on out afterwards."

"Aw, you sure ya gotta leave so soon?" Sapphire asked, "The party's just getting started now that Copper and Tiger are here. Would you be tempted to stay if I offered to make some of my famous peanut butter cookies?" Sapphire asked as she shook a jar of peanut butter, "It's creamy, just the way you like it."

"I'm afraid not old friend," the old man replied as he took down a bowl from the cupboard (he knew the small kitchen like it was his own), "I can't keep waiting too long. What would she think if Father Christmas came home late for the holidays? I gotta get home before she leaves Midnight Mass."

"Alright, that's fair," Sapphire sighed as she began to crack the eggs over the bowl, "But ya gotta promise me to come down here for Thanksgiving, alright?"  
"For you, I'll see what I can do," The old man replied as he winked towards his old friend.

Just then, the two friends heard the door swing open shortly before a familiar head pop behind the kitchen entrance.

"Hate to interrupt, but I have to know: What exactly did Roy do to get himself pinned by that giant lion?" Copper pearl asked in a rather neutral tone.

"Oh yeah, Taffy doesn't like it when he gets his mane touched," Sapphire chuckled, "And Roy just can't help pushing people's buttons. How is he anyways?"  
"Oh, he went out cold after having a few beers," Copper said with a small giggle, "Anyways, thanks! I'll get out of your hair now."

That being said, the pearl disappeared behind the kitchen entrance and swung open the door to the bar. Shortly after, Sapphire could hear her friend screaming in the other room:  
" _TIGER! DON'T DO IT, FIRE TOLD ME HIS MANES OFF LIMITS!"_

" _BUT CHUCK SAID IT'S COTTON CANDY! I HAVE TO TEST HIS THEORY!"_

" _WE BARELY BEEN HERE FOR 10 MINUTES AND YOU ALREADY WANT TO GET BANNED?"  
_ " _IT'S FOR SCIENCE COPPER!"  
_ " _THERE'S NOTHING SCIENTIFIC ABOUT GETTING YOURSELF-"  
_ " _FOR SCIEEEEEEEENCE!"  
_ _ **ROOAAAAAR!**_

As expected, Sapphire soon heard her friends further escalating the situation along with the sounds of various glass products shattering.

" _LION V.S. TIGER! LION V.S. TIGER! LION V.S. TIGER!"_

" _OH IT'S ON FUR BALL!"_

" _DON'T PROVOKE IT!"_

"Hm, should I go deal with that?" Sapphire asked with an amused grin.

"Your bar, your call," Claus replied as he grabbed a whisk from a nearby drawer, "How about you handle the lion while I handle the eggnog? Who knows, you might find something on the counter when you get back."

"Sounds like a plan," Sapphire said with a grin as she floated towards the door, "And don't think I forgot about your Christmas gift Claus, I'll hand it to you before you leave," The sapphire glanced towards her old friend as she neared the doorway with her classic half-grin, "Sometime in the future."

 _ **-Epilogue-**_

"Alright Paddy, I think we can end things there."

Aw man, but things were getting guuuuud.

"Meh, I think we should end the chapter while on a high note. Besides, this specials a bit longer than usual, we don't want to bore the readers."

HA! I'm far too strange to bore anyone :D

"Okay, allow me to rephrase: we don't want to weird out anyone."

Fair enough...

"Ah, I see we are done with the chapter. Thank you ever so much for including me, now if you'll excuse me, I must return to Captain Lars!"

"Cool, it was nice meeting you Paddy."

Yeah, tell Lars we said hi :D

"Even though we're not at that point in this series?"  
Ppppppft, it'll be FINE!

"Okay, if you say so Nox."

"Farewell Sapphire and Nox (what a peculiar name), I wish you all a merry halloween and to all a good eggnog!"

Um-what?

"Nox, she hasn't been to earth yet, I'm surprised she even knows what halloween is!"

Ah, right XD Don't you just love how she waits a few sentences before she responds to something?

"Right, cause the whole past-vision thing?"

Yas! Pretty funny right? She's gotta be my favorite Lars Gem 3

"Ah, I can imagine, seeing how you two both have delayed reactions to things. Like how you got everyone prepared for a Christmas special, and then it came out in _late July?"_

Oh come on, your still hung up about that? Saph ya gotta cut me some slack-

"Not to mention you ended the last chapter with me saying _this is just the beginning_ and then you proceeded to wait 7 months before you uploaded!"

Okay okay, I'll admit I'm a bit of a procrastinator, but in my defense, I've got other fanfics, stories, and ̶n̶e̶t̶f̶l̶i̶x̶ ̶m̶a̶r̶a̶t̶h̶o̶n̶s̶ ̶ college stuff to deal with.

"Even so, would it kill you to be just a little consistent with your uploads?"

Yes.

"..."

What, don't give me that look!

*sigh* Okay, how about this: Remember when you were almost done with the 2nd chapter by the time you uploaded the first?"

Yas?

"How about you finish a hand full of episodes at once and upload them on a schedule? I mean I know we don't have a whole lot of followers, but it doesn't hurt to practice a bit of consistency. I think it could teach you some serious life lessons in the future-"

 _ **GAAAAAAAAAH**_ you mean format it like a TV show?

"Um, sure, if that's how you wanna see it-"

Or a webtoon?

"Yes, that works too-"

Or a YOUTUBE CHANNEL?

"Okay I feel like you're just repeating things now."

What a brilliant idea! I'm so glad I thought of it!

"Um…..Nox, _I_ thought of it, I have like a dozen witnesses to verify."

Ah, but Sapphire, you forget: I _made_ you, hence I deserve any credit for anything good you say or do.

"This is what I meant when I said you sounded like a diamond."

Ouch!

"Okay, before we get off topic, I wanna give a huge shout out to Mimzy94 for letting us use her two OC's for this chapter! Those girls were really fun to hang out with :D"

Yeah! I didn't even know what Sake was before this chapter! Not to mention it was really fun tying those gems into the story XD Although I still have to wonder who would win in that Lion V Tiger fight…..

"Noooooox, we're not making the chapter any longer, you gotta get started on the next few parts."

Oh come on Fire!

"Come on, it's long enough, and it's like I always say: Always leave em wanting more."

I hear you Fire, that's what I say when feeding my cat: always leave him wanting more B-)

"Yeah, that's-wait, you do what? ._."

Anywho, thank you all for your patience waiting for this Christmas special! It'll take a while, but I'm gonna try to be more consistent with these uploads! I hope you all have a happy morning/evening/afternoon/night/2am!

"Merry Christmas in July. Until next time:"  
Always brush your teeth,

"Listen to your parents,"  
Don't stay up at 1:21 in the morning writing an epilogue,

"And most of all: Feed your cat. Don't be like Nox….."

And of course, have a happy summer! Sapphire, if you'll do the honors?  
"With pleasure."

 ***-** _ **Flaaaaaaaaaaash!-***_

As the sapphire spoke, she could hear the door to her bar swing open followed by an exhausted groan and a pair of feet drag themselves across the floor. The young teenager painted the perfect picture of a zombie as he walked with his sluggish feet and held onto his right forearm like it was no longer a usable part of his body.

"Hey Nick, how's the prison been?" Sapphire asks as she turns around towards the young adolescent with a pint full of apple cider.

" _Blagsheba,"_ Nick groans as his head promptly fell on the table with a loud thump next to his cider.

"What was that, french?" Roy chuckles as he looks towards the kid in amusement.

"Nah, I think that's teenager for ' _please take me out of my misery,'"_ Chuck explained as he remembered his own days in high school, "Don't worry kid, just a few months left and you'll be let on parole!"

"Trust me, I'm counting the days," Nicolas rolled his head to the side and made an attempt to look at his friend in the eyes without raising his head, "I think I'll be dead by June."

"Don't sweat it kid, it's already February, your more than halfway there," Chuck said encouragingly, "I mean I can't believe it's already been 2 months since Christmas! It's almost like we went through some sort of time-skip!"

"Yeah, like we just skipped January or something," Seaweed added, "It feels like just yesterday we were watching Tiger eye take on that pink lion!"

"Yeah, um, I'm still not totally caught up on that," Victor said from the other side of the bar, "What exactly happened? When you guys were talking about your party, did I miss hear you when you said Roy was under a-giant pink lion because he tried to touch his cotton candy mane?" The man scratched his head at the sound of his own words, "Was I drunk when you told me that?"

"Oh yeah, you weren't there that night where you?" Sapphire recalled as she floated to the west end of the bar to keep her friend company, "You didn't hear any of that wrong, that's basically what happened. I mean, technically we don't know if his mane was made out of cotton candy, we just know that he didn't like it getting touched, so naturally Roy had to get his hands on it."

"Ugh, I'm getting PTSD just by thinking about it," Roy sighed with a shutter as he drank his beer, "I don't know what I would've done if your friend hadn't taken him off Ice Witch."

"Yeah, she really was something," Sapphire chuckled as she remembered her two friends, "I think you and Copper would get along handsomely Vic, I'll have to give you a heads up the next time they-"

Suddenly, while she was still talking, Tom ran through the open door in a hot, sweaty mess as he struggled to fill his lungs with air through weezy, painful breaths.

"Geez, can't we have a normal conversation without someone interrupting us with a weekly catastrophe?" Chuck groaned as he turned around in his seat, "I mean come on! I'm just here to have a drink!"

"Oh come on, we haven't had a crazy plot line since last Christmas," Roy retaliated, "And it ain't always crazy here."

"I don't know, between the Jasper and the Pink Lion, I feel like this place is starting to magnet trouble," Nick groaned as he slowly raised his head in an attempt to drink some of his cider.

"Hey, keep it down bud, I don't want to lose any customers," Sapphire complained, "It's not easy to run a bar if all my good paying customers are scared off-"

" _GUYS!_ In case you can't tell, I've got a crisis to deal with!" Tom blurted as he frantically looked between his friends and the open door.

"Alright Tom, we hear you," Sapphire sighed as she floated over the bar, "What's the situation? Is it the landlord again?"

"Or another gem?" Nick called in a mellow voice.

"N-No, it's worse than that," Nick panted as he stared at his friend with anxious eyes as beads of sweat trickled down his dark hickory forehead, "It's a code pink!"

As soon as his words left his mouth, all of Tom's friends dropped what they were doing (as well as their easy going demeanor) and reflected his horrified expression.

"A code _pink?"_ Seaweed snapped, "As in _hot pink?"_

"Yes!"

"-as in-"

"Yes!"

"You mean-"

"YES!"

"-and she's-"

"YES!"  
Tom's gang sprang from their seats and rushed around the bar as they filled the tavern with a storm of words and panic.

"ALRIGHT YOU HEARD THE MAN IT'S A CODE PINK, THIS IS NOT A DRILL!" Chuck screamed from the top of a stool.

"I'll keep a lookout!" Roy cried as he sprinted towards the door, "Seaweed, you and TK assume position A-7!"

"Way ahead of you Roy!" Seaweed cried as she tied her hair in a bun while a man with olive skin pulled out an amber wig from his duffle bag.

"We'll call you when she's gone Tom," Sapphire said as she leads her friend to the doorway leading to the back, "Just stay low and carry a big stick."

"Wait, who's _she?"_ Nick asked, slightly more awake than he was a few seconds ago, "I'm kinda lost here guys."

"Yeaaaaaah, same here," Victor added as Sapphire emerged from the hallway (with Tom notably absent), "What's 'code pink?'"

"No time to explain," Sapphire stuttered as she floated over the bar in a grey and white blur, "Long story short: Tomas has an Ex Fiance from Jersey City whose not exactly over their breakup."

"Ah, I see," Victor sighed, "Still pretty fresh?"

"They broke up 5 years ago."

"...Oh…..."

"Or atleast _Tom_ broke up with her," Chuck yelled as he placed a baseball cap over his head, "She hasn't quite caught up with the times."

"O-Okay, I can see why that can be an issue," Victor stuttered, "But are you sure you're not all blowing things out of proportion? I mean it's just one Ex, how bad can she-"

" _ **TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMY DARLING WHERE ARE YOU?"  
**_ "SHE FOUND THE TAVERN!"

"Alright everyone, positions, _NOW!"_


End file.
